The brother and sister of a convicted murderer have been jailed today for assisting his escape.

Francis Ward, of Stable Way in Kensington, and his sister Winifred, of Cambridge Road in Hounslow, were sentenced to 18 months and 15 months imprisonment at St Albans Crown Court for helping John ‘Boy’ Ward escape after planning the killing of his cousin Thomas Ward in Stevenage last year.

The 36-year-old and his 47-year-old sister were found guilty of transferring money into bank accounts and helping John ‘Boy’ move around Europe as he tried to evade capture by the authorities.

John ‘Boy’ fled to Europe with his wife Joeleen Ward, who he lived with at Clarkson Court in Hatfield following the murder and the couple spent the next 10 months travelling around the continent before he was arrested in Denmark in February.

Joeleen, 22, was also found guilty of the same offence and given a 12-month prison sentence suspended for two years.

All three were ordered to pay a £100 victim surcharge.

Thomas Ward was murdered at the Dyes Lane caravan site in Stevenage on April 23 last year, five days after the 21-year-old’s teenage wife had given birth to their first child.