A DANGEROUS armed robber captured a prison worker and used a ladder to scale an 18ft wall and escape Haverigg prison.

Dean Walker, 33, locked horticultural instructor Joseph Watson, 59, in a concrete shed and stole his keys and utility belt in his bid to flee HMP Haverigg.

As terrified Mr Watson - who has a heart condition - shouted for help, he spotted Walker dangling from the razor wire at the top of the fence by his clothing.

But Walker wriggled free and escaped the Category C prison - and was found three days later in his home city of Manchester.

Judge Philip Parry sentenced Walker to six years behind bars at Preston Crown Court today to run consecutively to the 11-year sentence he is serving for armed robbery.

In May 2016 he was branded a dangerous offender and jailed for a string of robberies, including one in which a woman was "dragged around like a ragdoll" at knifepoint at her workplace in Bolton.

But just five months into his sentence, Walker, of Cleveland Road, Manchester, launched his bid for freedom.

On October 28 he was working in the farm area with Mr Watson and a number of other inmates.

At around noon Mr Watson was putting tools away in the shed when he felt a sensation across his back and turned to see Walker, inches from his face.

Walker demanded his keys but as Mr Watson reached for the panic button on his radio, attached to his utility belt, Walker held the radio up to him and laughed - as he had already stolen it.

Mr Watson handed over his keys and followed Walker's demands to sit on a chair.

As the inmate fled the shed, he shouted at Mr Watson that he must not follow him or watch where he was going.

He locked the iron fence, leaving Mr Watson inside the shed with no means of escape, and used the keys to steal a ladder from a nearby shed and scale the prison wall.

Police launched a search operation but Walker remained at large for three days until he was found in a garden in Agnew Road, Manchester - still wearing his prison trousers.

As he was arrested, he made no reply to the caution, but "barked like a dog", the court was told.

In a victim statement, Mr Watson said he had suffered extreme anxiety as a result of the incident.

He said: "I found out Dean had been in for knife offences and I was blaming myself for what had happened.

"It was like a world of ifs and buts that play on my mind and cause me to well up on occasion.

"I will not forget Dean's eyes that day. The memory unsettles me."

When asked why he had committed the offences, Walker told his lawyer "it was just a stupid thing to do".

He pleaded guilty to false imprisonment, escape from lawful custody and theft.

Judge Parry, sentencing, said: "This took concerted planning and was well executed.

"It required and resulted in the false imprisonment of a civilian instructor who was in poor health."

Around 40 additional staff from various prison establishments in the North West, as well as off duty Haverigg staff, were called in to assist with the incident.

Speaking after the sentence, Detective Inspector Adrian Johnson of Cumbria Constabulary said: "Cumbria police officers worked closely with our colleagues from Greater Manchester Police and North West Regional Organised Crime Unit to capture Mr Walker in the Gorton area of the Manchester area."