HMP Pentonville: Sister and girlfriend sentenced for helping prison escape

Image copyright PA

Image caption The Victorian north London prison holds 1,200 inmates

A prisoner's girlfriend and his sister have been sentenced for helping him to escape.

Matthew Baker, 29, and James Whitlock, 32, went on the run in November after breaking out of HMP Pentonville.

Baker's girlfriend Chelsea Gibson, 25, of Bow, east London, pleaded guilty to assisting an offender while his sister Kelly Baker, 22, of Ilford, admitted harbouring an escaped prisoner.

They were both sentenced to eight months in jail suspended for 18 months.

Image copyright Met Police

Image caption James Whitlock (left) and Matthew Baker shared a cell at the prison

Baker and Whitlock escaped from prison by sawing through a metal bar to open an external window cover.

Two days later, Baker was found hiding under a bed at his sister's home in Ilford. He had dyed his hair and had a fractured leg.

Whitlock was found at an address in Homerton, east London, after six days on the run.

Gibson was also ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work, while Baker was told to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.