lt;pgt;A man convicted of armed robbery who was accidentally released from a London prison on Friday has posted images of himself online, taunting police who are currently trying to hunt him downlt;/pgt; lt;pgt;34-year-old Ryan Byrne posted the images, showing him in a pub enjoying a pint of beer and reading thelt;emgt; Sunlt;/emgt; newspaper and also standing next to a police van parked in a street, to his Facebook account. The pictures were originally lt;a href=quot;http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/6554373/Armed-robber-Ryan-Byrne-freed-early-taunts-police.html?CMP=spklr-_-S9SunSocial-_-TWITTER-_-TheSunNewspaper-_-20150722-_-News-_-211917229quot; rel=quot;nofollowquot;gt;published by the lt;emgt;Sunlt;/emgt;lt;/agt;.lt;/pgt; lt;blockquote class=quot;twitter-tweetquot; lang=quot;enquot;gt; lt;p lang=quot;enquot; dir=quot;ltrquot;gt;Prisoner mistakenly freed from jail taunts police by posing for pictures on the run lt;a href=quot;http://t.co/uwHDbWjIHZquot; rel=quot;nofollowquot;gt;http://t.co/uwHDbWjIHZlt;/agt; lt;a href=quot;http://t.co/O6YL0AbISequot; rel=quot;nofollowquot;gt;pic.twitter.com/O6YL0AbISelt;/agt;lt;/pgt; lt;pgt;— The Sun (@TheSun) lt;a href=quot;https://twitter.com/TheSun/status/623885466056699904quot; rel=quot;nofollowquot;gt;July 22, 2015lt;/agt;lt;/pgt;lt;/blockquotegt; lt;pgt;A Scotland Yard spokesman lt;a href=quot;http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/11754715/Police-hunt-prisoner-who-was-freed-from-jail-by-mistake.htmlquot; rel=quot;nofollowquot;gt;saidlt;/agt; police were informed by the Prison Service on Friday that Byrne had been freed by mistake from Wandsworth Prison in south London last week, with just 18 months left to serve of his nine-year jail sentence for violent robbery.lt;/pgt; lt;pgt;An investigation is underway as to how the mix-up which led to prison staff releasing Byrne by mistake on Friday morning, according to a police spokesman.lt;/pgt; lt;pgt;In 2007, Byrne robbed a Boots store in London, along with his brother. During the robbery, the two men threatened staff with machetes and locked them in a room whilst they stole £3,800 ($5,933) in cash from the store#039;s tills.lt;/pgt; lt;pgt;This is not the first time a convicted lt;a href=quot;http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jul/07/prisoner-anthony-douglas-accidentally-released-shared-surname-hmp-hewellquot; rel=quot;nofollowquot;gt;prisonerlt;/agt; has accidentally been released from a British prison.lt;/pgt; lt;pgt;In July 2014, Anthony Douglas walked out of HMP Hewell, in Worcestershire after police mistook him for another inmate who had served his sentence with the same surname.lt;/pgt; lt;pgt;Police re-arrested Douglas shortly after staff had realised the blunder on 8 July.lt;/pgt; lt;pgt;A Prison Service spokesperson said today: quot;Releases in error are very rare but regrettable occurrences. The number of incidents have fallen significantly in recent years with figures down by a quarter compared to 2009/10 but every incident is taken extremely seriously and we are not complacent.quot;lt;/pgt; lt;pgt;quot;We are investigating this incident. The recapture of this prisoner is now a matter for the police.quot;lt;/pgt;
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