Two dangerous prisoners escaped and a Security Officer was shot

when gunmen carried out an audacious ambush on a Securicor prison escort van as it arrived at a court in London. The two prisoners were facing charges in connection with an alleged plot to steal more than £1m from a Securicor van. The back door of the vehicle transporting the prisoners, a Securicor van, was forced open after the driver was shot in the knee by a man disguised as a postman. Mark Freeman, deputy general secretary of prison officers’ union POA, called for a review of prison van security measures. Prisoners have escaped from both Securicor and Group 4 since private companies began ferrying prisoners to and from courts 10 years ago.

Editors Notes: Prisoners have managed to escape from vehicles used in the transportation of prisoners since vehicular transports became. It should not be presumed that private security companies are any less capable of carrying out this task than Prison Officers or the Police.