The great airscape: Inmates climb up rope to helicopter hovering above prison in daring escape
The pair were later recaptured after the audacious jail break in Canada
Police vehicles block a road just outside the town of Chertsey, Quebec
Two inmates staged a Hollywood-style prison break by shimmying up a rope to a hovering helicopter that had been commandeered by accomplices.Benjamin Hudon-Barbeau, 36, and Danny Provencal, 33, were whisked off after two other men posing as tourists hijacked the aircraft from a tour firm, held a gun to the pilot’s head, and made him fly over the jail’s exercise yard. While they were on the run, a man called a local radio station claiming to be Hudon-Barbeau and said he was “ready to die” rather than be caught. He said: “The way they’re treating me in there, it’s unreal. They won’t let me be.”The pair fled Saint-Jerome jail, in Quebec, yesterday afternoon, and hours later Canadian officers found the helicopter 50 miles away.
Inmate: Benjamin Hudon-Barbeau
Only the pilot was at the scene in Mont Tremblant, and he was taken to hospital for shock.The police then chased after the prisoners and their accomplices, who had sped off in a Cadillac, before shots were fired and Hudon-Barbeau – in prison in connection with a double murder – and the two helpers were caught.Alleged arsonist Provencal was tracked to a cake shop nearby. He had barricaded himself in, but later gave himself up peacefully. Jail boss Yves Galarneau said there were no security measures in place to prevent a helicopter swooping down. He said: “As far as I know, it’s a first in Quebec. It’s exceptional.”The jail at the centre of yesterday's escapade in Quebec is a provincial detention centre with a maximum-security wing.Saint-Jerome jail, about 37 miles north west of Montreal, experienced a mini-riot by about a dozen prisoners a little over a month ago.In that incident, police were called to secure the outside of the jail, which holds about 480 inmates, and jail staff used pepper spray to disperse the mob.
The pair were later recaptured after the audacious jail break in Canada
Police vehicles block a road just outside the town of Chertsey, Quebec
Two inmates staged a Hollywood-style prison break by shimmying up a rope to a hovering helicopter that had been commandeered by accomplices.Benjamin Hudon-Barbeau, 36, and Danny Provencal, 33, were whisked off after two other men posing as tourists hijacked the aircraft from a tour firm, held a gun to the pilot’s head, and made him fly over the jail’s exercise yard. While they were on the run, a man called a local radio station claiming to be Hudon-Barbeau and said he was “ready to die” rather than be caught. He said: “The way they’re treating me in there, it’s unreal. They won’t let me be.”The pair fled Saint-Jerome jail, in Quebec, yesterday afternoon, and hours later Canadian officers found the helicopter 50 miles away.
Inmate: Benjamin Hudon-Barbeau
Only the pilot was at the scene in Mont Tremblant, and he was taken to hospital for shock.The police then chased after the prisoners and their accomplices, who had sped off in a Cadillac, before shots were fired and Hudon-Barbeau – in prison in connection with a double murder – and the two helpers were caught.Alleged arsonist Provencal was tracked to a cake shop nearby. He had barricaded himself in, but later gave himself up peacefully. Jail boss Yves Galarneau said there were no security measures in place to prevent a helicopter swooping down. He said: “As far as I know, it’s a first in Quebec. It’s exceptional.”The jail at the centre of yesterday's escapade in Quebec is a provincial detention centre with a maximum-security wing.Saint-Jerome jail, about 37 miles north west of Montreal, experienced a mini-riot by about a dozen prisoners a little over a month ago.In that incident, police were called to secure the outside of the jail, which holds about 480 inmates, and jail staff used pepper spray to disperse the mob.