AN armed robber was shot twice with a Taser by police after going on the run when he walked out of jail.

Josh Overall, 32, went on the run for five days after absconding from Prescoed open prison near Usk on May 24.

He was found hiding behind a cupboard at his girlfriend’s house in the Townhill area of Swansea after walking there from Monmouthshire.

Tabitha Walker, prosecuting, told Cardiff Crown Court that Overall was “intoxicated” when police arrived.

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He was Tasered twice because the defendant was refusing to cooperate with the officers and the first shot had “little effect” on him.

Overall was then handcuffed, arrested and recalled to prison.

Miss Walker said: “The defendant told the police he had wanted to do to see his partner before handing himself in.

“He said that he had walked from the prison to that address in Swansea and that it had taken him several days.

“And he said that there were no issues at the prison and this did not contribute to him absconding.

“He said that he knew they had a curfew and he was supposed to come back.

“The defendant was asked why he had hidden himself when officers attended if he was planning to hand himself in.

“He said that he panicked as it was all too much due to the police coming into the property.”

The defendant admitted escaping from lawful custody.

The court was told that Overall was sentenced to a nine-year jail sentence in 2021 for robbery and possession of a bladed article in a public place in Swansea.

His best mitigation, it was said, was his guilty plea.

Judge Paul Hobson told the defendant: “The escape was not violent and there was no planning and no further offences committed.”

Overall was jailed for six months.

He won’t be eligible for release until 2027.