Escaped prisoner appears in court

Jan 30 2012

A prisoner who went on the run for two days following an alleged armed escape outside a hospital has appeared in court.

Andrew Farndon, 26, who was convicted of grievous bodily harm after fracturing his victim's skull in a hammer attack, was sprung from the custody of prison officers as they escorted him to West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, for treatment on Wednesday evening.

He and four other people were arrested by officers from Strathclyde Police in New Cumnock, Ayrshire, on Friday. All five appeared at Ayr Sheriff Court on Monday.

Gary Cowan, 43, from Peterborough, Alan Hornall, 23, Karen Legge, 44, both from New Cumnock, and 16-year-old Iain Legge, from Maidens, were charged with attempting to defeat the ends of justice for allegedly harbouring the prisoner.

Farndon was charged with firearms and road traffic offences, while he, Hornall and Iain Legge were also charged with contraventions of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995.

Hornall was alleged to have been in possession of an axe.

Farndon and the four other accused made no plea or declaration at the private hearing and the case was committed for further examination until their next appearance next week.

They were all remanded in custody.

It is understood Farndon suffered a knife wound at Highpoint Prison in Stradishall, near Newmarket.

He was being taken to West Suffolk Hospital's accident and emergency department in a taxi accompanied by two guards when the alleged incident happened, at around 6.50pm on Wednesday.