On his way to visit Skansen, Stockholm’s popular open-air museum, the man suddenly ran off and jumped into a waiting car.

The man has been sentenced to prison for two and a half years.

“He had a four-hour long leave, and had two experienced guards with him, but he ran away, and got into the car,” said Elisabeth Anestad, Hall’s manager, to news agency TT.

The man is convicted of grand larceny and handling stolen goods. He was at Hall because of bad behaviour at other prisons.

He was to be released on parole in July, and this was the 24-year-old’s first leave from prison.

“Shortly after parking he ran off and was chased until reaching the other car, but our staff didn’t succeed in catching up to him,” said Anestad.

He was chased some 300 metres, and nobody was injured in the incident.

“This is very rare. For our part, it hasn’t happened since 2005,” said Anestad.

The escape occurred at 10.45am, and the man is now wanted.

Hall is one of Sweden’s three maximum-security prisons.

Although the 24-year-old hadn’t been sentenced to a long prison sentence, poor behaviour can lead to prisoners being moved to a higher security level.