An armed gang has sprung two prisoners from a security van in Britain.
Police were called to Trinity Way in Manchester following reports of a prison van being attacked shortly before 8.30am. Officers found that two prisoners had been taken out of the van by “a number of armed, masked men”.
The gang made off in a Saab, which was found abandoned in Barrow Street in Islington, Salford, a short time later. One security guard was taken to hospital but his injuries are not believed to be life-threatening, police said.
Appealing for information, Det Sgt Paul Copplestone said: “We are sure that this incident was witnessed by many people at a very busy time of the morning. The Saab was driven off towards the M602 motorway.
In May this year, three prisoners escaped from a security van in Lancashire when they climbed out through the skylights in their individual cells inside the vehicle.
Two were quickly caught, but convicted robber John Paul William (35) managed to evade the authorities for seven days and was spotted on CCTV on a bus in Manchester.
In May last year, Richard Smith (29), from Salford, who was charged with conspiracy to commit arson, was sprung from a prison van outside Salford Magistrates’ Court. He fled to Spain but was arrested in Alicante and extradited back to the United Kingdom in November last year.
PA