Freed Newcastle prisoner Danny Weatherson hospitalised after jail release

Danny Weatherson is yet to enjoy his freedom as his treatment continues in the Royal Victoria Infirmary. Credit: NCJ MEDIA

Danny Weatherson spent 17 years in jail.

Less than a fortnight after being released, he crashed a pedal bike and found himself in hospital.

Ten days on, the former prisoner from Newcastle is yet to enjoy his freedom as his treatment continues in the Royal Victoria Infirmary.

Mr Weatherson's dad, Maurice Stevens, said he cannot believe the "bad luck" his son is experiencing.

Danny Weatherson was released from prison last month. Credit: ITV Tyne Tees

"He was alright and then the next thing we knew he had been injured," he explained. "He's going to be in hospital for another week. He's just hit a kerb and broken his femur and his knee.

"He is in a lot of pain."

The 35-year-old, who has spent his entire adult life behind bars, broke his knee and thigh bone when he fell off a bike on Saturday 30 September.

Mr Weatherson was just 17 years old when he was convicted for trying to steal a coat and a mobile phone. He handed a controversial Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence, a type of "indefinite" custodial punishment which has now been scrapped.

The judge at Newcastle Crown Court recommended he serve just over 15 months before applying for parole. But he ended up serving nearly 18 years in prison before he was finally released from HMP Northumberland on Thursday 21 September.

Danny Weatherson was just 17 when he was initially arrested. Credit: NCJ MEDIA

Upon his release, Mr Weatherson, from Scotswood in Newcastle, said he is determined to make up for lost time with his family and has shared the challenges he has faced in adapting to his new life.

He said: "I have had to re-learn everything, it's such a shock seeing how things are outside. The first thing was the money they gave us when I left. I had never handled plastic notes.

"Everything looks different, it's like I'm in a different world. All the buildings have been knocked down where I used to live in Scotswood."I don't even know how to answer my new phone. I'm struggling with everything about the phone. Everyone has changed, but I still feel like I'm 17."

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