ONE of the men who murdered Hemel Hempstead PC Frank Mason has been extradited back to the UK to complete his life sentence after escaping custody in 1994.
James Hurley, along with Perrie Wharrie and Charlie McGhee, were all found guilty of killing the 27-year-old police officer and were jailed for life in 1989.
But on February 16, 1994, Hurley, now aged 49, escaped custody while being transferred between prisons.
He had been the getaway driver during an armed robbery of a security van in Bank Court, Hemel Hempstead on April 14, 1988.
PC Mason, who was off duty at the time, was shot in the back as he tried to arrest one of the gang. It was never established who pulled the trigger.
It is believed that after his escape Hurley used a fake identity to travel freely between the UK and Europe.
But his life on the run came to an end when a raid by Dutch police saw him arrested in The Hague on November 19 in 2007.
He gave a false name but fingerprints and DNA on a European police database meant officers could identify him.
Since that time, officers in the UK have been working with the Dutch authorities to have Hurley extradited to serve the rest of his sentence for PC Mason’s murder.
After serving four years of a six-year sentence imposed for the possession of Class A drugs, he was returned to the UK on Wednesday and is now back behind bars. He has another four years of his 10-year life sentence to serve.
Det Chief Supt Mark Drew said: “It felt like unfinished business for Hertfordshire’s policing family, particularly in Dacorum. There is a great sense of satisfaction that he is back where he should be serving his time in a UK high security prison.”
He was brought back to the UK last Wednesday by five officers from Herts Constabulary, including PC Lazarus Clark, who was presented with the Frank Mason award earlier this year.
The accolade is given annually to a serving police officer who has gone the extra mile in their service to the community. It is presented as part of a memorial service held in Hemel Hempstead’s town centre on the anniversary of PC Mason’s death.
McGee died behind bars and Wharrie, now 52, is due to be extradited to the UK after he completes a 30-year sentence in Ireland for drug offences.
Police say this will not be until at least 2020.