Runaway migrant nabbed after attempting to disguise himself as nativity scene statue
A fugitive migrant tried to dodge cops by hiding himself as a ‘living statue’ in a Christmas nativity scene but was foiled when he was spotted moving among the other characters
An on-the-run migrant tried to dodge cops by launching a Baldrick-style cunning plan to hide himself as a “living statue” in a Christmas nativity scene.
The Ghanian fugitive was on the run from a conviction for assault and resisting arrest – and tried to evade recapture by the authorities by pretending to be one of the Three Wise Men. He had been sentenced to nine months and 15 days in prison by a court in Bologna, Italy.
The 38-year-old managed to give authorities the slip, and ended up in the small town of Galatone in the southern region of Puglia.
But the escapee’s plot – on a par with one of Blackadder’s sidekick Baldrick’s daft “cunning plans” – was foiled when the mayor of the backwater noticed him moving among the other nativity characters.
Mayor Flavio Filoni said: “While I was walking past the nativity scene, which was set up by our tourism office, I noticed a figure which I initially thought was part of the scene. But then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the figure moving.”
Photos of the migrant show him lurking at the back of the nativity scene with his arms outstretched in the style of the other life-size statues who made up the rest of the festive display in the Crucifix Piazza town square. The mayor added the fugitive was in a “state of difficulty”.
He was spotted striking his pose amid bales of straw and to the right of Joseph and Mary, who are standing beside the crib where a model of baby Jesus is due to be placed on Christmas Day.
Cops arrested the Ghanian – who has not been named – and remanded him in custody in a prison in the nearby city of Lecce. He is set to serve out the rest of his original sentence in the lock-up.
Mayor Filoni added on Facebook: “Thanks to the swift intervention of our local police, the state police and the Carabinieri, it was possible to identify this person, who it turned out was a wanted fugitive. A big thank you to all the men and women who uphold our security with competence and dedication.”
The nativity fugitive was nabbed as it emerged British taxpayers are facing vast extra costs for supporting failed asylum seekers – after the backlog in the immigration courts more than doubled in a year.
Ministry of Justice data shows the logjam of asylum cases in the lower tribunal system soared by 104% to 69,670 cases by the end of September. It’s up from 34,234 a year earlier.
Asylum seekers who are waiting for appeals to be concluded remain eligible for taxpayer-funded support, such as free full board in asylum hotels. The average time taken to hear a case in the First Tier Asylum and Immigration Chamber has jumped to 60 weeks.
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