A violent criminal has been captured after escaping a court dock before he could be jailed for an attack on prison staff.
Andrew Pattie bolted from Dundee Sheriff Court seconds after being told he was being sentenced to 32 months imprisonment.
Pattie, 32, stood with arms folded before frantically fleeing from the dock in courtroom four to the shock of those in the public gallery.
He ran through two sets of double doors, evading police, GeoAmey staff and court officers, and out onto Bell Street at around 10.15am.
However, the thug didn’t get far and sought refuge under a shipping container outside Abertay University.
Police negotiators
Multiple police officers swooped on the scene with negotiators deployed to assist.
Pattie had previously admitted attacking three members of staff at HMP Perth.
The incident in the B Hall in 2021 erupted prior to a game of football with an incensed Pattie lashing out at the trio.
One of the men suffered a broken nose which required several stitches.
He suffered permanent scarring and underwent a realignment procedure before being forced into medical retirement.
Pattie, of Dundee, was only released from a jail term on June 28 this year and was subject to a 12-month supervised release order
He was at liberty after pleading guilty earlier this year and appeared for sentencing on Monday morning after a social work report had been prepared.
No alternative to jail
Solicitor David Duncan said his client’s circumstances had “changed significantly” in recent times and Pattie was due to move into a new tenancy.
He urged Sheriff Paul Brown to consider giving repeat offender Pattie a community-based alternative to custody.
However, Sheriff Paul Brown told Pattie: “This is a serious offence.
“I am afraid the matter is so serious that I see no alternative to a custodial sentence.”
He was taken back into custody after hiding outside the university building for just over an hour.
Pattie returned to the dock in the afternoon and sentence was deferred until later this week.
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