Prisoner hacks off own ear, escapes during trip to hospital.

From the Daily Mail:

A prisoner cut off part of his ear so he could escape from an ambulance on the way to hospital, Greater Manchester Police said today.

Michael O'Donnell, 28, told staff at Forest Bank prison in Salford at around 1.30am yesterday that he had been injured in his cell.

An ambulance was called to take him to Hope Hospital, also in Salford, but on the way four masked men pulled up in a stolen BMW.

They smashed the ambulance windows with baseball bats and bolt-cutters and O'Donnell, who was escorted by three prison guards, escaped.

He was handcuffed to one officer, who released him during the ambush.

O'Donnell was waiting to be sentenced for conspiracy to rob and commit burglary.