The not so Great Escape: Man leaps over wall, breaks back and is jailed again

A handcuffed man attempting to flee police by diving over a wall ended up with a broken back instead of freedom.

Dylan Harrison, 33, shouted ‘I’m not going back to jail’ as he bolted from a police van at Ystrad Mynach station in South Wales on September 25.

The father-to-be was arrested after being accused of committing domestic violence offences against a woman in Newport.

Before a police officer could finish saying he was under arrest, Harrison managed to slip his handcuffs in front of his body and suddenly sprint away from the two female officers.

The officers are heard shouting ‘Get back here now!’ on their bodycam footage as he tried to make a quick escape.

In a desperate effort to avoid being taken into custody, Harrison jumped onto a police van.

Harrison cracked the van’s windscreen as he used it to levy himself up before scaling a wall – all while still handcuffed.

He managed to haul himself over the wall but broke two bones in his lower back as he fell down.

When he was recaptured, he admitted escaping from lawful custody and criminal damage during the ordeal.

Gareth Williams, defending, said: ‘This was a stupid thing to do. He tried to get over a high wall and broke his lower back. 

‘The benefit of all this was nothing.’ 

Harrison’s girlfriend is nine months pregnant and has been struggling on her own while he has been in custody, his barrister said.

Judge Daniel Williams jailed Harrison for six months.

Harrison was cleared of the domestic violence allegations after the alleged victim failed to turn up at court, Newport Crown Court heard.

Harrison, originally from Liverpool, had previously been jailed for 67 months at the city’s crown court in 2017 for possession of guns. 

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