'Panto' police in prison van trip

The MP said the police had acted like a plot from a Carry On film

A police force has been accused of "pantomime" by an MP after a security van travelled 57 miles to transport a prisoner just 200 yards.

The prisoner was not allowed to walk across the road from Northampton Crown Court to the magistrates' court.

Police said it was inappropriate for prisoners to be escorted in view of the public and the Ministry of Justice denied it had wasted public money.

Brian Binley, MP for Northampton South, likened the move to a Carry On film.

The defendant was charged with stealing cable from a railway.

He was taken to Northampton Crown Court after he was wrongly listed to appear before a judge on Tuesday morning.

We should have a new film called Carry On Carrying those Detained by the Police Brian Binley, MP

When it was decided the matter should be dealt with by magistrates, a security van was diverted from Cambridge to drive him there.

Mr Binley said: "The situation is total nonsense, but most importantly it is about people in the public sector not caring about how they spend the public's money.

"The police could simply have put the guy in the back of a police car and driven to the magistrates' court.

"Public money should be treated with more care than any other money but it isn't, it is the opposite."

Calling for a "common sense approach", he added: "It is pantomime, isn't it? If you saw this in a Carry On film you'd be amazed.

"We should have a new film called Carry On Carrying those Detained by the Police."

The Ministry of Justice spokesman said it was "absolutely not the case" that a van had made a special journey to Northampton to move the prisoner.

"This was a planned journey and involved the vehicle collecting and delivering a number of prisoners en route to Northampton.

"It also collected prisoners from Northampton Crown Court and delivered them to other prisons.

"No taxpayers' money was wasted. Contractors always plan journeys efficiently in order to make the best use of their resources."

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "No wonder our prisons are in such a state of chaos, if they can't even manage to escort a prisoner 200 yards between buildings.

'Possibility of escape'

A Northamptonshire Police spokesman said the force was not responsible for the van and could not comment on how far it had travelled, but backed the decision not to allow the prisoner to walk.

The spokesman said that until someone had been convicted it was inappropriate for them to be "escorted across a very busy main road in handcuffs in full view of the public".

He said it would also be inappropriate for prisoners to walk in a public area while in custody because of public safety issues as well as the possibility of escape and injury.

A spokeswoman for Global Solutions Limited said the company did not discuss individual cases.