By PATRICK HARRINGTON

Published: 18:07 GMT, 3 January 2026 | Updated: 20:41 GMT, 3 January 2026

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A murderer is among two prisoners being hunted by police after they escaped from jail on New Year's Day.

Avon and Somerset Police are frantically searching for convicted murderer Matthew Armstrong and Daniel Washbourne, who has a history of violent offences.

The pair absconded from HMP Leyhill, in South Gloucestershire, between 5pm and 8pm on January 1.

A third prisoner who is suspected of escaping at the same time was arrested today.

Armstrong was convicted in the late-2000s of a murder that occurred during a robbery in Warwickshire, whilst Washbourne has previous convictions for violence and false imprisonment.

Armstrong, 35, is described as a white male, about 5ft 9ins tall, with ginger hair and scars on his forehead.

He was last seen wearing a 'burgundy/orange' coat, a grey cap, grey tracksuit bottoms with blue on the side, and black boots.

Washbourne, 40, is described as a white male of around 5ft 6ins, slim, with brown hair and clean shaven.

Matthew Armstrong, 35, left, and Daniel Washbourne, 40, right, both absconded from HMP Leyhill on New Year's Day

A CCTV image of the pair in what they were wearing on New Year's Day. Daniel Washbourne on the left and Matthew Armstrong on the right

He was last seen wearing a cream fleece, blue tracksuit bottoms, a blue hat and black trainers.

The missing pair are not from the South Gloucestershire area, but are known to have links around the country.

Armstrong is known to have links to Warwickshire, whilst Washbourne has connections in Herefordshire, according to police.

Anyone who sees the two men are urged not to approach them, but to call 999 immediately and quote the reference 5226000700.

Police also want to hear from anyone with information that could lead to them to the men, which can be provided by calling 101. 

The urgent actions triggered by a prison escape have already been completed, police said, which includes sending a wanted alert to police systems around the country.

Addresses have also been searched in the course of the investigation, but these have so far proved fruitless.

It comes a week after police launched a separate urgent manhunt for a prisoner who fled jail on Christmas Day.

Mahad Elmi, 27, left an open prison in Buckinghamshire and was unlawfully at large, Thames Valley Police said.

There has been no update from police indicating he has been found.

Whilst these prisoners are understood to have escaped of their own volition, the government recently made admissions about the number of prisoners released by mistake.

Justice Secretary David Lammy revealed in November last year that a total of 91 prisoners were wrongly released in England and Wales between April 1 and October 31, 2025.

Downing Street admitted at the time that the figures are 'shocking', but claimed they were 'symptomatic of a system that the government inherited' from the Conservatives.

The numbers were disclosed in the wake of a series of high-profile accidental releases, including that of Epping migrant sex offender Hadush Kebatu.