A national security company on whose watch a murderer escaped from Kingston County Court is being investigated by police over claims it fiddled contract figures.
Serco holds the £40m contract for escorting prisoners to and from courts in London and East Anglia and is accused of fraudulent behaviour by staff.
The investigation was launched after a Ministry of Justice audit found disparities between Serco contract records with staff recording prisoners as ready and arrived for court appearances when they had not.
Last June convicted child killer Richard Kwakye managed to flee Kingston County Court with a weapon before he aggressively grabbed and tried to knock a woman off her bike outside Kingston College and was caught.
The woman he attacked, Chloe Scoones, said that, given the contract investigation, the escape should be looked at as well.
No explanation has ever been given as to how a convicted child murderer was able to overpower guards and run into the busy town centre streets near Kingston College.
At the time Paul Rennie, head of custody services for Serco, said: "Following the incident we carried out a review of our prisoner escorting procedures and we are confident that they are completely safe and secure."
Miss Scoones said: “I think they should have investigated this in the first place. But hopefully their investigation will bring out what actually happened on that day.
"I am interested in finding out. I have complained to the Ministry of Justice and heard nothing back.
"I guess they don’t seem to have any answers – if they do, they don’t seem to want to give them to me. It shows that something is going on."
Kingston councillor Geoff Austin said: “The public have a right to know that that incident has been looked into and whether measures have been taken to make sure it does not happen again.”
Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said: “It’s become very clear there has been a culture within parts of Serco that has been totally unacceptable, and actions which need to be investigated.”
Chris Hyman, chief executive of Serco, said: “I am deeply saddened and appalled at the misreporting of data by a small number of employees on the contract. This is a very serious matter for the customer and for us.”
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