Prisoner Tunnels His Way Back Inside

PRISONER BUNGLES TUNNEL

An inmate at a prison in Portugal has tried to tunnel his way to freedom - but came up in an inner courtyard instead of outside the prison perimeter.

The six and a half feet tunnel was found last week beneath a cell at a jail in Coimbra, a prison spokesman said.

Paulo Barbosa said: "There was still 21 metres to go until it reached the outdoors, but the tunnel led to the patio and not outside of the prison."

He said the prisoner had made "a mistake in his calculations".

The 28-year-old prisoner, one of 240 inmates, had made another failed attempt to escape shortly after he was jailed.

He was sentenced to 17 years for robbery in 1996.