A convicted murderer who absconded from a Suffolk prison will be sentenced next month.

Thirty-seven-year-old Christopher Mortimer pleaded guilty at Ipswich Crown Court on Monday (March 28) to escaping from HMP Hollesley Bay near Woodbridge in February.

Mortimer was convicted of murder in 2001 and was serving his sentence at a prison in Nottinghamshire before moving to Hollesley Bay in October.

Robert Pollington, for Mortimer, said his client had complained about anti-semitism and was in a state of “emotional distress” when he absconded from the prison.

The court heard that when Mortimer was given a life sentence for murder in 2001 he had been given a minimum tariff of 15 years.

Recorder Richard Atchley adjourned sentence until April 29 and said he would like more information about why Mortimer was still in custody 21 years after receiving a minimum sentence of 15 years.

He said he also wanted to know the effect of any sentence he passed would have on the defendant’s release position.

Recorder Atchley told Mortimer: “It is important to have the full facts if justice is to be done.”