A man convicted of rape at Oxford Crown Court slashed his wrists after being taken down to the cells.

Gino Stallone, 35, of Western Havell, Cambridgeshire, was jailed for six years by Judge Charles Harris after a jury found him guilty of rape.

He was taken to the cells below the court to await transfer to prison but asked officers if he could go to the toilet first.

An officer waiting in the corridor outside went in after two minutes and found Stallone had slashed his wrists. He is believed to have used a blade from a disposable razor issued as standard to all inmates at Bullingdon Prison, near Bicester. The officer gave him emergency first aid and called an ambulance, which arrived within ten minutes. Paramedics then transferred him to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. He was discharged 45 minutes later and taken back to Bullingdon.

A spokesman for Premier Prison Services, which provides court escort services across the south-east, said: "We always try to avoid anything like this but there were no warnings on our paperwork that he was in any way suicidal.

"Our officers are first-aid trained on how to cope with emergencies such as this and the officer's swift action could have prevented a tragedy."

Stallone was convicted of a rape that took place in Godmanchester, near Huntingdon, in January. He is thought to have hidden the razor blade through three security checks before reaching court.

Before prisoners are taken to court from Bullingdon they are supposed to undergo a strip search. Stallone was also scanned with a metal detector and received two rub down searches before entering court.

The spokesman added: "We always try to make sure that they do not have the means to harm themselves but there are many ways of secreting something like this."

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