Six men, including a murderer, who have absconded from Scotland's open prison estate in the past three years, are still at large.
The Herald can also reveal that of the 66 men who absconded from Castle Huntly open prison last year, several of them said they did so because they were not deterred by the length of the extra jail terms they would receive when returned to court.
One man even went on holiday and was only sentenced to an extra two months when he was returned.
The revelation follows the publication of the internal review of open prison protocols ordered after a violent criminal escaped from the open prison last summer and raped a 16-year-old schoolgirl.
Robert Foye, who was serving a nine-and-a-half year sentence for attempted murder, was on the run for a week before raping the girl.
The review was ordered after intense media interest and MSPs raised the case with the First Minister.
The Scottish Prison Service has said it will improve procedures as a result of the case.
Research conducted by the prison service shows that of the 66 men who absconded from Castle Huntly last year, only three of them committed further offences.
One man was charged with shoplifting and another with breach of the peace, particularly minor offences when compared with the Foye case.
Some were only at large for less than a day and cited reasons such as spending more time with elderly relatives. Others had failed drugs tests and were afraid of being sent back to the closed prison estate.
Several said they escaped because the extra jail sentence they would incur for absconding was no deterrent and one man went abroad on holiday.
The extra sentences they received on their return last year ranged from 30 days to eight months.
Of the 66 men who escaped from Castle Huntly in the last year, four are still at large in the community and a further two men have been missing for two and three years respectively.
Those at large include George Sutherland Mckay, 56, who was convicted of murder and has been on the run since he absconded last May. Mckay, who has served 30 years in prison after being jailed for life in 1975, failed to return from home leave.
Terence Hutton, 39, was serving five years for attempted murder, and has also been missing since last May.
Christian Ekkebus, 35, was serving 10 years in prison after being caught in December 2000, with 8.5 tonnes of cannabis on a boat off the north coast of Scotland.
He left Castle Huntly on weekend leave on February 4 2005 and has never returned. He is understood to be living in the Netherlands.
A man who absconded in 2006, and was serving a drugs related sentence, is thought to have left the country.
Of the 18,000 inmates leaving prison in Scotland each year, 300 go through the open estate. Only those who have proven they are clean from drugs and prepared to work and engage with rehabilitation can enter the open estate.
Castle Huntly has no fence and prisoners are only locked in at night, but the majority abide by the rules and return to the community in six to nine months.
A spokesman for the prison service said: "The vast majority of prisoners who abscond are returned to custody. Of those who abscond a very small minority go on to commit further crimes and it is rare that sexual or violent crimes are committed."
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