A CONVICTED robber who escaped from prison in the vain hope of spending Christmas with his mother and girlfriend in Bournemouth is back behind bars.

Former Royal Navy rating David Lansdowne admitted walking out of Ford open prison on December 10 last year.

Bournemouth Crown Court heard how the 24-year-old had been jailed for six years in August 2005 for kidnap and robbery. His earliest release date was March 6, 2009.

Lansdowne's disappearance came to light during a roll call at the West Sussex prison.

Following a tip-off, police found him in a flat at Kinson Road and he was arrested.

Lansdowne told officers he had absconded because he had been refused parole and had wanted to see his sick mother and girlfriend.

In his defence, Peter Spink said Lansdowne accepted the seriousness of the offence and realised how stupid he had been.

"He went before the parole board on December 2 and was told he was not going to be granted parole."

Mr Spink added: "It was declined because he was caught in prison with a mobile phone.

"He took the knock-back very badly and was told he would be monitored for eight weeks; over the Christmas period.

"It was a double blow for him because he was not going to be released and wasn't going to be able to have home leave.

"His mother suffers from very serious depression and at Christmas it was particularly acute, partly because of the news that her son wasn't coming home and wasn't getting parole."

Mr Spink said his client had "simply walked out on the spur of the moment. There was no planning and no violence".

"It was his intention to return to custody in the New Year but he didn't have that opportunity."

Jailing Lansdowne for a further four months, Judge Samuel Wiggs told him: "What you did was extremely foolish because it put in jeopardy your eventual release date."