So when a prisoner manages to escape from Alcatraz or a Bruges jail, some ingenuity is required, combined with some negligence on the part of the jailers. And that's what happened a fortnight ago. The headline read: Topgangsters ontsnappen uit gevangenis met helikopter - Top gangsters escape from prison by helicopter. A man and a woman hired the helicopter, supposedly for a tour, but then forced the pilot to land in the prison exercise yard. The man sacrificed himself and got out while the three lads got in and off they flew.

Nets are in the pipeline but surely a couple of sturdy poles would have been deterrent enough. The three had done their homework: a number of banks have since been held up, so putting two and two together, they have probably been financing their freedom. The gangster's moll, who hired the chopper, has been identified and of course articles are appearing that examine what makes nice girls fall for gangsters. I liked the article titled Ontsnappen uit gevangenis niet strafbaar - Escaping from prison is not punishable, as long as escapers don't use violence and no other crime is committed.

Recent attempts to criminalise escaping from prison gained little favour in parliament: "De vrijheidsdrang is aangeboren - the desire for freedom is innate" was the position taken, which is quite enlightened. So using a handy ladder is only natural.

More prosaic was last week's jailbreak (I suppose this is just a coincidence: it's not as if there's one every week and it was from another jail). Six made it over the wall; two took to their heels but one of the prisoner's mother picked up the other four in her little Toyota. A different image to the dare-devils in the sky: a 62-year-old mum carefully driving her Yaris with her blue-eyed boy beside her; it must have been quite a squeeze. She has been arrested and, unlike her on-the-run son, can be prosecuted for her part in his escape, just like the helicopter passenger.

It makes you wonder how the ones left behind feel. Happy that a handful of their mates made a getaway? Certainly there will be lots to talk about when they all get back together.