Prisoner who injured and threatened to "slit" officer's throat jailed
James Demarco tried to escape from custody during a hospital visit
A man who left two prison officers injured after trying to escape from custody during a hospital visit has been jailed.
James Demarco had been taken to Perth Royal Infirmary for an x-ray appointment in September last year.
The 34-year-old was handcuffed to a female GEOAmey employee when he caused her to fall halfway down a flight of stairs.
He then put his knee on her chest and neck, pinning her to the ground and causing her head to strike the floor.
Demarco demanded the handcuffs be removed and shouted that he would ‘slit’ the woman’s throat.
The second GEOAmey officer immediately uncuffed Demarco before tackling him and putting him in a headlock in a bid to restrain him.
Demarco bit the man on his right forearm, elbowed the officer on the back of his head and punched him several times on his head and face.
The prisoner then escaped out of the stairwell through a door leading to the ground floor and ran out of the hospital building towards the car park.
Demarco then approached a woman who was carrying her four-year-old daughter and said: “Where is your car? Give me your car keys.”
The woman shouted for help as Demarco grabbed at the pocket of her cardigan, causing it to rip.
The accused then ran away in the direction of Wellshill Cemetery to the north of the hospital.
Meanwhile, police received a 999 call after a witness saw the attempted robbery in the carpark.
They found Demarco in the cemetery and took him to Perth Police Station where he was cautioned and charged.
In response to a charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice, he replied: “Like that will make a difference to my life sentence, ha ha ha ha.”
Both prison custody officers were taken to Accident and Emergency at Perth Royal Infirmary.
The female custody officer was left permanently disfigured after suffering a 6cm laceration to her scalp alongside contusions and soft tissue damage.
The male custody officer was found to have suffered bruising to his face and eyes, a minor cut on his right eye socket, soft tissue damage and a superficial bite mark on his arm.
Demarco appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh on August 5 where he pleaded guilty to four charges.
Today, at the High Court in Stirling, he was sentenced to 40 months imprisonment.
Moira Orr, who leads on homicide and major crime for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said:
“James Demarco is a dangerous individual whose dangerous actions could have had catastrophic consequences.
“It is only by good fortune that neither of the two custody officers were more severely injured.
“He then tried to rob an innocent member of the public as she carried her young child, which must have been incredibly traumatic experience for them both.
“I hope this conviction serves as a warning to others that we take crimes of this nature extremely seriously and will use all the tools available to us to seek justice.”