LINCOLN, UK — A prisoner serving a life sentence for murder escaped from North Sea Camp in September by ingeniously disguising a pumpkin and stuffed boiler suit as himself to fool prison guards, a court heard Monday, October 28, 2024.
Aaron Wood, 54, who was sentenced to life in 1998 for murdering a 40-year-old woman, pleaded guilty at Lincoln Crown Court to charges of escaping custody and carrying a bladed weapon.
Wood, an inmate at North Sea Camp in Lincolnshire, executed his escape on September 22 by crafting a “crow man” decoy using a pumpkin for a head and a boiler suit stuffed with clothes.
According to prosecutor Phil Howes, the escape went unnoticed during a bed check in the early hours of the morning.
“Wood hid his disappearance by stuffing a boiler suit full of clothing and using a pumpkin as a head,” Howes explained, adding that “this was enough to fool a check at 01:15 BST when a member of prison staff looked through the cell window.”
The deception allowed Wood to remain undetected until his cellmate reported him missing just before 08:00 BST the following day.
He was eventually located nearly 50 miles from the prison in South Somercotes, after a family member reported he had spent the night in their caravan.
When police apprehended him, Wood claimed he was on a charity walk. Officers also found a knife in his possession, which led to additional charges.
The court also learned of his extensive criminal record, totaling 29 previous convictions for 110 offenses, including house burglaries, assaults, and previous escape attempts.
Wood’s lawyer, Michael Cranmer-Brown, explained that Wood had “severe mental health anxieties” and felt he would never be released, which he claimed led to the escape attempt.
Following his recapture, Wood has been returned to a more secure facility and will remain in prison for at least 20 months before he can appeal for parole.
The escape has raised questions about North Sea Camp’s security protocols.
