I know that every now and then we read about prisoners escaping here in South Africa – a little often, actually – but over in Iceland they’re operating under a different set of rules.

Take Sindri Thor Stefansson for example, the man who has come to be known as the mastermind behind the ‘big bitcoin heist’.

We’re talking about the theft of nearly 600 computers used to mine bitcoin in Iceland, but Sindri wasn’t exactly kept under lock and chain.

He managed to flee prison earlier this week, and the Guardian outline the bizarre story of just how easily he did so:

Sindri Thor Stefansson escaped through a window of the low-security Sogn prison in rural southern Iceland before boarding a flight to Sweden at the international airport in Keflavik located 59 miles from the prison on Tuesday. Police said he travelled under a passport in someone else’s name, but was identified via surveillance video…

Guards at the prison, which has no fences and where inmates have access to the internet and phones, did not report him missing until after the flight to Sweden had taken off. Stefansson [below] had been in custody since February, but was moved to the low-security prison 11 days ago.

An international warrant has since been issued for his arrest, but Swedish police spokesman Stefan Dangardt said no arrest has been made in Sweden.

The plane that Stefansson took was reported to have been carrying the Icelandic prime minister, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, to a meeting with India’s prime minister in Stockholm on Tuesday.

I suppose we are accustomed to reading about criminals flying out of our country with the aid of politicians, but Iceland’s PM [above] had no idea.

The small island country isn’t used to dealing with crimes of this nature, and the 200 million kronur (R24,5 million) is said to be Iceland’s biggest ever theft.

Ha, amateurs – you should see what went down on that dairy farm with the Guptas.

So why was security at Sogn prison so lax? Here’s Helgi Gunnlaugsson, a sociology professor at the University of Iceland:

[He] said keeping a high-profile prisoner in such low-security surroundings was unusual but more so was his organised escape.

“Prison breaks in Iceland usually mean someone just fled to get drunk,” he said. “The underworlds are tiny and it is extremely difficult to hide, let alone flee the country.”

I can just imagine police investigating a prison escape by heading to the nearest bar and finding the culprit necking shots.

Nice set of problems you have going on, guys.

There’s actually another crime in Iceland that has captured the world’s attention, and if you have around 15 minutes to spare I suggest you read this article, also from the Guardian.

[source:guardian]