A prisoner has escaped police custody for the third time. Joe Farnan, 27, fled from the back of an ambulance aided by two masked men, one of them armed:
A Prison Service spokeswoman said: "The ambulance had driven to Hammersmith Hospital around 300m away and when it pulled into A&E, armed men with balaclavas approached the ambulance. They forced the three officers to uncuff the prisoner who escaped in the vehicle." The officers were unhurt, but are being treated for shock. No shots were fired.
Farnan was at Wormwood Scrubs serving a sentence for crimes that already included escaping from lawful custody.
The public are being advised not to approach the men but to contact the police if they are seen.
The whole thing as you'd expect has kicked off an inquiry. High on the list of questions will be why the prisoner simply didn't wait for his brother to break into prison with an escape plan tattooed on his body.
