A convict escaped from a jail in Sweden because is toothache had become unbearable and he wanted to see a dentist. The 51-year-old prisoner, who has not been named, was serving a one month sentence at the Östragård open prison in Vänersborg when he decided to escape after prison officers did not arrange treatment for a painful molar.
The prisoner complained to officials inside the prison that his toothache was becoming extremely painful but was left to deal with the discomfort for days without any form of treatment. He told Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter ‘I just couldn’t stand it anymore. I was all swollen in the face.’ Because the facility is minimum security, it was not too difficult for him to simply walk out of the jail and find a dentist in the town centre who removed the painful tooth; he then handed himself into police who escorted him back to the prison.
The man was given a warning by prison staff and had his sentence extended by one day. He remained locked up for the rest of his time at the prison but has since been released; he told the newspaper that he did not regret the escape and was ‘still happy to have gotten rid of the toothache.’