Prisoner released in error admits wounding charge

James Taplin was released from jail accidentally last year

A 24-year-old man who spent weeks at large after being wrongly released from prison has admitted the offences he was originally detained for.

James Taplin was remanded into custody last September on charges of burgling a house in Coleford, Gloucestershire, and wounding the occupant.

But he was released in error from HMP Hewell in Worcestershire before his trial, sparking a police manhunt.

He was eventually tracked down in Torquay, Devon, on 27 October.

Taplin, of High Street Cinderford, appeared at Gloucester Crown Court on Tuesday.

He admitted the theft of cash from a property on Tufthorn Ave in Coleford on 22 September, and also admitted unlawfully wounding the occupant.

The Crown Prosecution Service decided not to proceed to trial on more serious charges of aggravated burglary and malicious wounding.

Taplin will be sentenced on March 20.

Following his accidental release, the Ministry of Justice said it has started an investigation into how the error had occurred.

An MOJ spokesman said at the time that "releases in error are incredibly rare".

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