Prisoner hacks off his ear... and is sprung from ambulance by armed gang on way to hospital

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A prisoner cut off part of his own ear with a razor before being sprung by a masked gang from the ambulance taking him to hospital.

Robber Michael O'Donnell, 28, deliberately injured himself so he would be taken from Forest Bank prison to Salford Royal Hospital in Greater Manchester, police believe.

As his ambulance drove through Salford in the early hours of yesterday morning a stolen BMW pulled across in front of it.

Four masked men armed with baseball bats and bolt cutters leapt out, smashed the ambulance's windows and forced the prison guard handcuffed to O'Donnell to release him. They then sped away in the BMW before abandoning it nearby.

O'Donnell - who has links to Brinnington, Stockport - was on remand at Forest Bank awaiting sentence after being found guilty of conspiracy to rob and commit burglary.

Police believe he made a significant amount of money as the ringleader of a gang behind a string of motor thefts and house raids across Manchester over a two-year period.

He was due to be sentenced later this month and was facing a likely sentence of between eight to 10 years behind bars.

Police appealed for help to find O'Donnell. Assistant Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said: 'This was a terrifying attack on an ambulance and, though nobody was physically harmed, it certainly left the people who were looking after O'Donnell at that time feeling understandably frightened.

'O'Donnell needs to be caught and put back where he belongs.

'I would warn anyone who knows of his whereabouts or who sees him not to approach him, but to call 999 immediately. O'Donnell could be anywhere, but he does have links to Stockport and south Manchester, and may have links to the travelling community.'

O'Donnell went to prison staff at 1.30am yesterday saying he had injured his ear. The top of his ear had been sliced off but there is no suggestion he had been attacked. He was being escorted to hospital by three prison officers when he was freed.

Daily Mail

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