[A] MAN who damaged his own solicitor’s vehicle as he tried to escape from custody in Carlisle has been jailed.
Joseph Graham was wearing handcuffs as he briefly ran around a car park at the city’s magistrates court during a short-lived bid to get away on August 28. Before giving himself up, he leapt over a Honda CRV belonging to his lawyer, Mark Shepherd, causing a dent and scratches.
Graham, 38, appeared over a video link from custody at Carlisle Crown Court today (MON), when he was jailed for 12 months. He had admitted escaping from lawful custody and damaging the car; he also admitted burgling a city electrical store and four thefts from Carlisle shops.
Graham was said to have turned to drugs after losing his job as a steel erector, and accepted making his escape bid out of “sheer panic and stupidity”.
“Foolhardy, I think you will agree, is rather the understatement of the year,” Judge Peter Davies told him. “The next time you see Mr Shepherd…please take your time to apologise.”
Graham, of Welsh Road, Carlisle, responded: “I already have.”
