Prisoner who escaped had tried to break out twice before

A prisoner who tried to escape custody at a hospital after injuring himself had successfully broken out of jail twice before, ITV News Anglia can reveal.

James Whitlock tried to evade officers at Addenbrooke's Hospital, where he was taken for treatment after he hurt himself at HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire in 2022.

The attempt followed two successful prison escapes.

In 2016, he successfully escaped from Pentonville Prison in London by breaking through his cell bars, prompting a manhunt.

Six years earlier, Whitlock walked out of a jail in Suffolk by using another inmate's name.

Whitlock, previously of Walton on the Naze in Essex, had his sentence extended by a year following a hearing at Cambridge Crown Court on Friday following his attempted escape from Addenbrooke's.

On 20 August 2022, the prisoner injured himself in the neck at HMP Whitemoor.

After receiving treatment at hospital, Whitlock asked to use the shower. While inside, he managed to use the taps to unchain himself from the officer he was attached to.

He then covered his hands with his gown so the officer would not notice and then ran.

Whitlock was chased by the officers before he was detained and taken back from prison.

Earlier that year, Whitlock had been jailed for 15 years for using explosives to steal cash machines in Essex and London.

In the Pentonville escape, Whitlock, alongside his cellmate Matthew Baker, stuffed their beds with pillows in the shape of bodies to fool prison staff before scaling the perimeter wall of the prison.

Whitlock was caught six days later.

Det Con Emma Purser said: “Whitlock was very quickly detained after this escape attempt – only managing to get a few metres from the officers.

“I’m pleased that this foolish attempt to break from custody has resulted in his sentence being extended."

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