A REVIEW will take place after a violent armed robber dubbed “the Skull Cracker” went missing after temporarily being allowed out of jail, the government said yesterday.

Michael Wheatley, 55, who was given 13 life sentences in 2002 for a string of brutal raids on banks, failed to return to HMP Standford Hill open prison on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent.

Wheatley raided 13 building societies and banks over 10 months in 2001 and 2002 while on parole from a 27-year sentence for other robberies.

He earned his nickname after pistol-whipping victims, including a 73-year-old woman, during the raids.

Prisons Minister Jeremy Wright said there will be a full review of the case, including an assessment of the release on temporary licence  process.

Mr Wright said temporary licence can be an important tool to help offenders reintegrate into communities but that “it should not be an automatic right.”