A PRISONER who told a guard 'I'm off' before legging it from a hospital has been jailed for an additional six-months.

David Morgan has spent 13 years behind bars after he was jailed for a minimum of four years for two robberies after he was branded a 'danger to the public'.

The 42-year-old had previously absconded from custody on two previous occasions before his audacious escape last month.

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Teesside Crown Court heard how the defendant was taken to the University Hospital of North Tees in Stockton for treatment after complaining off stomach pains but when he stepped outside for some fresh air he slipped away from the prison guard and escaped.

Vicki Lamballe, prosecuting, said the defendant was found hiding in a wardrobe at a property in Middlesbrough the day after he escaped on September 2 while serving time at HMP Kirklevington, near Yarm.

She said Morgan was jailed in 2007 after robbing a Middlesbrough shop armed with a syringe filled with red liquid before then targeting a priest who he threatened with a knife before stealing cash.

Ms Lamballe said he had been released in 2017 and 2018 but was recalled on both occasions and spent time unlawfully at large.

Morgan, of Greenland Avenue, Middlesbrough, had earlier pleaded guilty to escaping from lawful custody, although he liked think that he had just absconded, she added.

Ms Turner said Morgan had openly described himself as previously being a "one man crime wave" due to his drug addiction.

Explaining his thinking at the time, she said: "He can't see the end to what has been a very long time in custody and he took the decision to leave."

Judge Stephen Ashurst added another six-months to Morgan's sentence 'for this very stupid decision you made to make off from the officer'.

He added: "You were simply escorted by a prison officer, what you did was to take the opportunity at hospital simply to run away from her.

"This is now the third time you have been unlawfully at large."