Abscond

Abscond, to fly the country in order to escape arrest (see FLY FOR IT) for crime. By s. 6 of the (English) Debtors Act, 1869 (32 & 33 Vict., C. 62), in any action in the High Court in which before the Act the debtor might have been arrested on 'mesne process,' the plaintiff may procure the defendant to be arrested and imprisoned up to six months (unless he has sooner given security not to quit England without leave of the Court) on proof that he has good cause of action to the amount of 50/. or upwards; that there is probable cause to believe that the defendant is about to quit England unless he be apprehended; and that the absence of the defendant from England will materially prejudice the plaintiff in the prosecution of his action. See R. S. C., Ord. LXIX.