A convicted criminal who absconded from an open prison has taunted officials by positing on his Facebook status that he “ain’t going back”.

Gardai are looking for 24-year-old Ricky English, who fled from Shelton Abbey prison on July 31.

It is believed officials from the Irish Prison Service had contacted the Carlow native in recent weeks to ensure his return to the facility in Arklow, Co Wicklow.

But the escaped convict teased them this week by posting a Facebook message claiming he was “feeling free”.

“I wasn’t guna do this but f*** it n f*** u irish prison system haha,” he wrote.

Broadsheet.ie

English was convicted in 2009 for robbing two bookmakers in Tullow, Carlow with a fake pistol in his hand.