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Two men escape prison van in Salford Two men escape prison van in Salford
(about 2 hours later)
Two men are on the run after being sprung from a prison van in Greater Manchester, police say. Police have launched a manhunt after two men were sprung from a prison van in Greater Manchester while being transported to court.
The van in which they were travelling was attacked shortly after 9am on Tuesday on Regent Road, Salford, a main road into Manchester about half a mile from the city's crown court and Strangeways prison. It is understood the men were en route to court to be sentenced for armed robbery. Witnesses said five men wearing balaclavas ambushed the van. Pictures showed the vehicle, owned by the private security firm GEOAmey, with its windows smashed. A gang of three men in balaclavas, one of whom is believed to have been armed with a sawn-off shotgun, attacked the van shortly after 9am on Tuesday on Regent Road, Salford, a main road into Manchester about half a mile from the city's crown court and Strangeways prison.
Police said two men were freed from the vehicle and they have deployed large numbers of officers to the area in a bid to recapture the prisoners. Two of the three prisoners inside the van escaped. They were Ryan MacDonald, 20, who was due to be sentenced for conspiracy to commit robbery, and Stevie McMullen, 31, who was on trial for conspiracy to kidnap, conspiracy to rob, conspiracy to commit arson and conspiracy to possess firearms.
A witness told the BBC he saw three masked men in a dark green Saab car drive across the carriageway into the side of the prison van. The car was later abandoned about 150 yards from the prison van in the opposite carriageway. Police released images of the pair, and Chief Superintendent Kevin Mulligan said McMullen in particular posed a danger if approached.
The witness said: "I called the police and then I could just hear the smashing, the screams, everything that was happening. I looked back because I could hear some more shouts and there were some men running towards me so I sprinted as fast as I could into the estate. I was pretty scared to be honest." "I am concerned about them being on the loose," he said. "They are responsible for some serious offences. I don't think they present a risk unless they're approached."
Another eyewitness said five men were seen running to a nearby parked car which they drove off and then ditched before running into a housing estate. One man was also seen without a helmet on the back of a motorbike as it was ridden off at high speed from the scene. Mulligan said a man and a woman had been arrested on the Ordsell estate, where the car the attackers were driving was abandoned, on suspicion of being involved in the escape. But he stressed that neither of the escaped prisoners was in custody.
Chief Superintendent Kevin Mulligan said: "To reassure those that live nearby, there is a significant police presence in the area. At this stage we do not believe that there is any ongoing threat to the community and we would appeal to anyone who has any information to contact the police as soon as possible." He said the third prisoner in the van was taken to the court as scheduled. He has been questioned in relation to the escape.
In 2011, two Liverpool gangsters were freed in a similar attack on a prison van just off the same stretch of road. Tony Downes and Kirk Bradley escaped in an ambush as they were being taken from Strangeways jail to their trial at Liverpool crown court. They were later caught in the Netherlands and returned to the UK after being sentenced in their absence to minimum jail terms of 22 years. The van operated by the prisoner escort firm GEOAmey was transporting the men to Manchester crown court from the privately run HMP Altcourse near Liverpool. The vehicle's driver and front passenger windows were smashed in during the attack. No one was injured.
Mulligan said the attackers arrived in a Saab car and after freeing the two prisoners all five men got into the car. After the vehicle was abandoned, three men ran into the Ordsall estate and the other two escaped on a motorbike, which was later found abandoned on Thurlough Street.
A witness told the BBC he saw three masked men in a dark green Saab drive across the carriageway into the side of the prison van. "I called the police and then I could just hear the smashing, the screams, everything that was happening," he said. "I looked back because I could hear some more shouts and there were some men running towards me so I sprinted as fast as I could into the estate. I was pretty scared to be honest."
In 2011 two Liverpool gangsters were freed in a similar attack on a prison van just off the same stretch of road. Tony Downes and Kirk Bradley escaped in an ambush as they were being taken from Strangeways jail to their trial at Liverpool crown court. They were later caught in the Netherlands and returned to the UK after being sentenced in their absence to minimum jail terms of 22 years.
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