Man from Runcorn is one of five escapees from Portuguese maximum security prison

Mark Cameron Roscaleer and four other men escaped from the Vale de Judeus prison, 70 kilometers north of the country's capital Lisbon, on Saturday.

Authorities have launched a manhunt for the quintet, who are believed to have escaped around 10am local time (9am GMT) by climbing over a wall using a ladder with outside help.

The 37-year-old Roscaleer from Runcorn was serving a nine-year prison sentence for kidnapping and robbery, according to Portuguese media reports.

He was convicted in June 2020 following a trial in an Algarve court. He and a co-defendant were accused of torturing the victim to get her to reveal the location of the cash. After the cash was found in Spain, they were extradited to appear in court.

Among the five fugitives are two Portuguese men as well as men from Argentina and Georgia.

Portuguese authorities have published wanted photos of the refugees (Image: SNCGP)

The first two were serving a prison sentence of 25 years for drug trafficking, criminal association, theft, robbery and kidnapping, while the latter two were serving a prison sentence for theft, kidnapping and robbery.

Roscaleer has been on the run before; in 2015 he escaped from HMP Kirkham prison in Preston, but turned himself in to police nine days later.

He was in prison at the time, serving a sentence of seven years and four months for an incident in a pub in Ellesmere Port.

He was one of two armed, masked men who threatened to “smash a man's skull in” and stole more than £6,300 from the Gunners Arms in May 2012.

Sindicato Nacional do Corpo da Guarda Prisional, Portugal's national union for prison guards, shared mugshots of the five refugees on social media.

They were described as “extremely dangerous” and the public was warned not to approach them and to contact authorities if they were seen.