Prisoner who slipped armed escort while being treated in Salford Royal Hospital is found 14 miles away in Stockport by police in 3am swoop

Police have today cornered and captured a prisoner who went on the run after escaping from Salford Royal Hospital.

Jonathon Windsor, 31, ‘escaped lawful custody’ while being ‘escorted by prison staff’, Greater Manchester Police said yesterday. 

The public had been urged not to approach him and report any sightings immediately.

A spokesman for the force told MailOnline today: ‘He was found overnight and is now back in custody’, adding he was cornered at 3am in Stockport – around 14 miles from the hospital he fled.

A major search was launched after Windsor, a prisoner at HMP Forest Bank, went on the run while under escort after being treated at the hospital site on Stott Lane. He is known to have links across the north west and south Manchester.

Residents near the hospital said they were told by police that the prisoner was still in handcuffs.

A major search was launched after Windsor, a prisoner at HMP Forest Bank, went on the run while under escort after being treated at the hospital site on Stott Lane. Here a police officer can be seen making enquiries in the local area

A number of police vehicles have been parked on Wilton Road, directly behind the hospital site, with uniformed officers speaking to local residents. One resident has said officers were asking locals if they had any doorbell or CCTV footage as part of enquiries

Police vehicles were seen parked in Salford Royal and a helicopter circled the area after the escape. One resident said: ‘There have been police everywhere and I was told a prisoner has escaped and is on the run’

The Manchester Evening News understands the prisoner was taken to Salford Royal for treatment but escaped, prompting a major search stretching as far as Sale.

The Category B men’s private prison is situated in the Agecroft area of Pendlebury, in Salford, and is operated by Sodexo Justice Services. 

Police officers had been conducting enquiries and knocking on doors in the vicinity of Salford Royal Hospital.

A police helicopter was also been circling the area, near to the De La Salle playing fields, as officers were seen along nearby Lancaster Road and Wilton Road carrying out enquiries. Officers have also been conducting searches near Sale Water Park.

One resident, who lives near to Salford Royal, saw the police helicopter circling and was told about the incident by a neighbour. He said: ‘There have been police everywhere and I was told a prisoner has escaped and is on the run.’

Another resident living closeby to the hospital said they first heard the helicopter at around 1pm but ‘thought nothing of it’ initially. 

They claimed a neighbour informed them police had been knocking on doors nearby and disclosed that a prisoner had fled the hospital ‘in a grey top and handcuffs’.

‘We hear things all the time with the hospital being on the doorstep and the motorway nearby,’ they said.

‘It was only when I went outside at about 2.45 and a neighbour said the police had spoken to them and asked them if they had seen anything, as a prisoner had escaped wearing a grey top and still in handcuffs.

‘There were police cars and and motorbikes everywhere and they were checking all the roads near Wilton Road and then checking the field at De La Salle.

‘They were walking round the back of the building on the playing fields obviously looking for him. It’s gone quieter now but we’ve not been told if the prisoner has been found or not.’