A 36-year-old man convicted of fraud after posing as a doctor to rent a £2 million home walked out of HMP Chelmsford in June after handing prison staff a forged High Court letter that purported to approve his release, a court heard.
Junead Ahmed, of Brentwood, Essex, was returned to custody after an attempt to use the same method to secure the release of two fellow inmates sparked suspicion among staff. He has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to escape from lawful custody and faces an additional sentence on top of a previous jail term.
Ahmed was convicted of six fraud offences in 2023 after admitting he posed as a doctor to rent a property he could not afford and later attempted to buy it. He was jailed for four years in November 2023 for those offences. The forged document presented in June claimed to be from the High Court and authorised his release; prison staff allowed him to leave the prison gates before the deception was discovered.
Prosecutors told Chelmsford Crown Court that the escape plan was "very meticulously planned," a description Judge Mary Loram KC endorsed during hearings. The judge said the scheme was a serious offence even though it did not involve threats of violence to staff and warned that those involved faced immediate prison terms.
Ahmed then attempted to use the same technique to secure the release of two other prisoners. One, Charlie Whittaker, 28, was serving a one-year sentence for his part in a fight that resulted in the death of a mother in Jaywick, Essex. The other, Adam Mohamed, 29, was in custody on drug-related offences. Mohamed has been described in court as someone Ahmed had "looked kindly on" while in custody.
The attempted releases raised suspicions and neither man was freed. Whittaker admitted conspiracy to escape prison; Mohamed pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of attempting to escape from lawful custody. Five other people involved in the scheme have also pleaded guilty or been convicted and will be sentenced in October.
Whittaker's mother, Charlotte Whittaker, 49, admitted providing details used in a forged letter on her son's behalf. Nazash Akhtar, 37, admitted supplying details for Ahmed. Aaruan Noor Ali, 20, described in court as the plot's "tech man," admitted conspiracy to escape.
During proceedings, prosecutors said Ahmed had boasted to his wife about the plan, telling her, "I'm going to change his [Mohamed's] life. He has such a great heart. He will die for me. I will release him." Media reports have drawn parallels between Ahmed's methods and the fictional exploits in the film Catch Me If You Can, in which a conman poses as professionals to defraud others.
Ahmed pleaded guilty to conspiracy to escape from lawful custody at an earlier hearing. Sentencing for him and the other defendants is due to take place in the coming weeks. The Ministry of Justice was approached for comment.
The case has prompted scrutiny of document verification procedures at the prison where the escape occurred, with prosecutors and the judge noting the sophistication of the forgeries and the coordination among those involved. Court records show the authorities uncovered the wider plot only after Ahmed's attempt to effect further releases, which provoked a formal inquiry and led to additional charges and convictions.