Winson Green prisoner ran from dock 'to save his life'

Nigel Harris said he had been the victim of two serious assaults at HMP Birmingham because of a mistaken belief among a group of prisoners that he was a sex offender.

Harris told the jury he wanted to contact the police about the assaults and his fears for his safety when he ran from the dock at Shrewsbury Crown Court on September 2.

He told the jury: "In hindsight it was the right thing to do.

"I was caught between a rock and a hard place.

"I chose the option that saved my life."

Harris, who denies escaping from custody, said he suffered serious injuries in the jail attacks including a broken arm, fractured eye socket, black eyes, hearing loss and a fractured bone in his spine and said he felt HM P Birmingham had deliberately prevented him from contacting the police for help.

The 38-year-old, formerly of Cross Houses near Shrewsbury, had been in court on September 2 for a legal application regarding his prison sentence for burgling the home of Otis Ferry, the son of rock star Bryan Ferry.

He ran from the dock but was quickly apprehended by security officers.

Harris told the jury at Shrewsbury Crown Court he had been subjected to threats and verbal abuse from other prisoners as they were being taken to court in a prison van on September 2.

He said one of the prisoners was an inmate he believed had been involved in one of the jail attacks.

Harris said: "It made me feel very scared. I felt like I had a very low life expectancy."

Harris said he had resorted to carrying his charge sheet around to prove to other prisoners he was not a sex offender.

He said he hoped the assaults would have been brought up during his court appearance on September 2 but they were not.

He added: "I started to shake, I felt a desperate urge to find a police officer. I was there at the back of the court at the door and a court officer was on top of me."

The prisoner denied he was trying to escape, adding: "I believed I would be taken back to HMP Birmingham and put in a holding cell with the other prisoners. I believed they would attack me. I was in no state to withstand a third serious assault, I had a broken arm. It was panic."

Harris, who is now at HMP Oakwood, was asked defence counsel Mr Gordon Hennell why he had not taken up the offer of being put in a segregation wing at jail.

He said: "These people have a mistaken belief I was some kind of sex offender and going on segregation would have falsely confirmed that mistaken belief and they would have attacked me even worse.

"I wanted to associate with normal people and not have sexual offenders as associates."

Harris denied a suggestion from Mr Jonathan Veasey-Pugh , prosecuting, he had alternative options to raise his concerns about the attacks during the court appearance on September 2 rather than jumping out of the dock.

And he denied the event was a "determined escape attempt".

The trial continues.