A prisoner slipped his cuffs by dislocating his thumb then fled - leaving his gaoler struggling to loosen the cuffs chain that he’d wrapped around a towel rail.

Ryan Searle, 39, who’d been taken from HMP Bullingdon, where he was on remand, to the Churchill Hospital, Oxford, for treatment in July 2020, was at large for little more than two minutes before he ‘came to his senses’ in the car park and two nurses caught up with him.

Prosecutor Cathy Olliver told Oxford Crown Court on Friday that Searle was kept under watch by a male and female guard at the hospital.

However, the male gaoler left to attend to some ‘personal business’, leaving Searle in the charge of his female colleague – a guard with 25 years’ experience in the prison service.

He asked to use the toilet and, to give him some privacy, she looped the short chain connecting their handcuffs around the door.

She became suspicious when Searle fell silent. Her concerns grew when she peeked through the gap in the door and saw her prisoner’s hands at his waist.

At that moment, he shoved the door – knocking the guard off her feet. It transpired he’d dislocated his thumb to slip his cuffs then wrapped the chain connecting his handcuffs to his goaler around a towel rail in the hospital toilet.

Oxford Crown Court Picture: ED NIX

Oxford Crown Court Picture: ED NIX

Searle fled from the hospital but ‘came to his senses’ in the car park. Two nurses caught up with him and he was detained.

In a victim personal statement, the guard said she’d feared that her ‘life was over’. The guard, who has now done 27 years in the prison service, was placed under investigation by the authorities at Bullingdon but later cleared and had received a formal apology. She had suffered sleepless nights and health complications linked to anxiety.

Defending, David Jones said the escape bid had been opportunistic rather than planned. He had been missing his family. He was sorry for his actions and had not intended to hurt the prison officer. “Never in a million years did Mr Searle foresee it would have such an impact upon her,” he said.

The court heard that Searle’s partner was expecting their child. The birth date was anticipated to be April or May.

Sentencing, Judge Maria Lamb drew gasps from the dock and public gallery after telling Searle: “There is no way I am going to make a sentence that is fixed around the birth of your baby. I am sorry for your partner. You are the one who has put yourself in the situation.”

Jailing him for nine months, she said the prison had shown Searle ‘nothing but kindness’. “You put before all else your own selfish considerations,” she added.

Searle, of Carrington Road, Aylesbury, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to attempted escape and assaulting an emergency worker. He had 44 previous convictions for almost 90 offences.

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

For news updates straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on news@nqo.com or 01865 425 445.