(Updated) Coventry Prisoner recaptured after hospital escape

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A prisoner who has escaped before is on the run again after two officers were threatened at gunpoint and forced to release him as he was being taken to hospital.



Andrew Farndon, 26, was being transported from HMP Highpoint to West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds after he was stabbed in an incident at the prison.

Reports said he had cut himself earlier on Wednesday at the prison in Stradishall, near Newmarket.

Farndon’s injuries were bad enough that he later had to be taken to hospital for treatment.

He arrived in a taxi with one male and one female police guard, who he was handcuffed to.

Outside A&E, the gunman pointed his weapon at the female guard’s head and insisted Farndon be freed.

The pair then ran off across the car park and may have escaped in a dark-coloured vehicle.

Sky News understands it is not the first time Farndon, who is serving time after he was found guilty of grievous bodily harm following an attack that left his victim with a fractured skull, has escaped from custody.

During a court appearance in connection with the GBH charge in Coventry, he leapt the dock and was on the run from court for a time.

However, Farndon was a category C prisoner, who was considered unlikely to make a determined escape attempt.

In his latest escape, Suffolk Police said they were contacted just before 7pm by the hospital’s A&E staff who reported they could see a man with a gun outside.

They received a second call shortly after from the escorting prison officers, who said they had a gun pulled on them by a man who had confronted them.

No one was hurt in the incident.

Farndon is the second prisoner to escape from custody this week. Murder suspect John Anslow is still on the run after the prison van he was being transported in was ambushed by three masked men on Monday.

Farndon is described as white, with a shaved head and a goatee beard, and was wearing a dark blue baseball cap and a light-coloured jumper that was padded on the right side due to his knife injury.

The man with the gun is described as white, in his mid 40s, around 5ft 8ins tall, of stocky build, possibly with a Scottish accent and was wearing a white top and blue jeans.

Farndon was serving an indeterminate sentence, with a minimum of three years before being considered for parole.

He was convicted in 2007 for GBH with intent, following a hammer attack.

Members of the public are advised not to approach either of the men but to call police straight away.

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Escaped Prisoner From Coventry Found

A prisoner from Foleshill who went on the run after being sprung by an armed accomplice as he was being taken to hospital has been arrested.

Andrew Farndon, 26, has been at the centre of a nationwide manhunt since he escaped custody outside a hospital in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, on Wednesday evening.

Suffolk Police say Farndon, who is serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection, was detained by officers from another area.