'There was blood everywhere': Prisoner slashes arms with blade while standing in Scottish court dock

A prisoner was left covered in blood after he slashed himself with a razor blade while in the dock at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last week.

The Polish national, who has not been identified, had been transferred from Barlinnie prison in Glasgow to the capital’s sheriff court for an extradition hearing.

But just moments after being brought into the dock the man pulled a razor blade from his pocket and began slashing at his arms.

Brave security staff immediately jumped on the prisoner in a bid to subdue him and take the weapon from him during the incident last Thursday.

The prisoner slashed his arms with a razor blade while he was standing in the dock at Edinburgh Sheriff Court picture: supplied

A court source said the prisoner and the shocked security guards were left covered in blood following the self-harm attack which took place in front of Sheriff Thomas Welsh QC.

The capital’s court room 4 was placed on lock down and police officers rushed to the scene as security staff battled to contain the situation.

A source said: “No-one can quite believe what happened last week as all prisoners should be thoroughly searched before leaving the prison and before entering the dock.

“The guy was appearing at an extradition hearing and appeared quite nervous while in the dock. But not long after he appeared in front of the sheriff he pulled out a razor and started slashing at his arms.

“There was blood everywhere and the poor security staff were covered in the guy’s blood.

“It is a real worry when that kind of thing happened as who knows what conditions the prisoner might have. I am sure they will all need to be tested for diseases such as Hepatitis.

“Fortunately there were no members of the public in the court at the time and the court police were on the scene very quickly to deal with the situation.

“But it is very alarming as to how the prisoner managed to get the blade into a court room in the first place.

“There are various procedures to follow as to searching prisoners and it looks like that wasn’t carried out to the best of their ability on this occasion.”

A GEOAmey spokesperson said: “A person in custody began to self-harm whilst appearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court before custody officers were able to quickly intervene.

“The individual only received minor injuries which were dealt with at the court and further hospital treatment was not required.

“An investigation will be carried out to determine the full details of the incident.”

GEOAmney provide safe and secure transportation and custody suite services fro prisoners and young people in custody across the UK.

The company escort adults, children and young people safely and securely and efficiently between police custody, courts, prisons, and secure training centres and secure children’s homes.