Students befriend homeless man and listen to Snoop Dog before learning he is an escaped rapist
'I would like to thank him because he trusted us and he was honest with us'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A convicted rapist who escaped from prison agreed to hand himself in to police after two university students gave him food and listened to hip hop music with him.
Tom Phillips and Aidan Byrne, two third year students from the University of Bristol, said they found convicted rapist Admi Headley lying on the pavement outside their house “with his clothes drenched in beer” on the night of November 16.
The pair thought Headley was homeless and invited him into their living room to get warm.They gave him soup, pasta and chicken Kiev to eat and listened as Headley told them about his life. Headley meanwhile said he was a fan of rap music and the trio listened to songs by Jay Z and Snoop Dogg.
After an hour, Headley admitted he was jailed 10 years ago on rape charges. He had escaped from HMP Leyhill in Gloucestershire on November 13 with two other prisoners and had been on the run ever since.
Mr Phillips said Headley broke down in tears while talking about his 12-year-old son, and said neither he nor Mr Byrne “ever felt threatened”, even after the convict relayed his past crimes. The pair even allowed Headley to call his son and apologise for “not being there for him”.
"We don't know what happened all those years ago and we didn't discuss it that night,” Mr Phillips told Gloucestershire Live.
“Any crime of that nature is horrific, however all we could see was the person in front of us. The person that I saw was someone who I felt needed food and water, and that is what we gave him.
“He was an interesting guy. He came from a culture that was completely different to ours. We didn't feel like we were in danger at all. We were waiting for him to sober up.
“Now that I've reflected, I would like to thank him because he trusted us and he was honest with us and he gave in a very short time a huge amount to us.”
Headley reportedly told the pair they could call the police but Mr Phillips said he declined in order to keep the situation under control.
After three hours, the students agreed to accompany Headley to the local police station where the convict turned himself in to the authorities, Avon and Somerset Constabulary confirmed.
Meanwhile, the two men Headley escaped with, Wayne Maycock and Paul Bromwich, were arrested around the same time and taken into custody.
Local police issued a warning at the time of the trio’s escape, suggesting the men could pose a danger to the public
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments