Mum harboured fugitive ex-lover

Marcia Parfitt, 46, of Fitzgerald Street, Preston, admitted a charge of harbouring an escaped prisoner on the basis he was only in her home for a few hours.

She is the ex partner of Alan Brogan, 30, who was jailed for eight years in 2009 after he and an accomplice stormed into houses in Preston armed with axes and knives, attacking and assaulting the occupants.

Crimestoppers offered a £2,000 reward for his capture after he absconded from Kirkham open prison last October.

He was given a further eight year sentence in 2010 for the unlawful possession of a gun and ammunition.

Brogan was found in an upstairs bedroom at Parfitt’s home in July.

Justice William Davis said: “A judge in a previous case ruled people who harbour criminals while on the run for serious offences must almost always go to prison.

“The only way people can stay on the run and present a danger to people is because people harbour them.”

However he suspended her four month term for 18 months.

Defending, Anthony Parkinson said: “She lives with her 25-year-old son.

“He suffered a serious injury when he was three and she is his full time carer.

“She was not immediately aware Brogan was on the run. She became aware when police visited her property after he absconded a few months earlier.

“He (Brogan) wanted to reconcile the relationship. She told him he had to do the right if that were ever to happen.

“It was a very short time she harboured this man for.”