Prison Van Escape: £10k Reward Offered

Police are offering a £10,000 reward for any information leading to the capture of two fugitives who escaped from an ambushed prison van.

Ryan McDonald, 20, and Stevie McMullen, 31, have been on the run since Tuesday when the vehicle in which they being taken to court in Manchester was intercepted.

Three men wearing dark clothing and balaclavas stopped the GEOAmey prison van in Salford just after 9am.

Police said a dark-green Saab car was driven in front of the van and the men got out all brandishing weapons, including an axe, a sawn-off shotgun and a handgun.

The side windows of the van were smashed and the driver was forced out of the vehicle.

He was then ordered to open the back of the white van and two of the cell compartments, which contained McMullen and McDonald.

All five are then thought to have fled in the Saab car which did a u-turn and was driven about half a mile to a motorway intersection approach road and abandoned.

The men are then believed to have run into a nearby estate before at least one of them leapt on to a motorbike that was later found abandoned.

McDonald had been on his way to court where he was due to be sentenced after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery.

McMullen was on trial having been charged with conspiracy to kidnap, conspiracy to rob, conspiracy to commit arson and other serious offences.

Police warned the public that the men were dangerous and not to approach either of them.

Chief Superintendent Kevin Mulligan, of Greater Manchester Police , said: "The investigation to recapture these fugitives is progressing well and we have been following up a number of leads.

"This work will continue until the moment all those involved are returned to their prison cells.

"However, we are now offering a large sum of money to anyone with information that leads to their arrests.

"I need to once again reiterate the potential danger posed by all these men - the public should not approach either man and if anyone knows where they are or saw these men escaping I would urge them to contact police immediately."

The van was attacked on Regent Road, Salford near to its junction with Gloucester Street. The Saab had pulled out of Gloucester Street when it stopped the van.

When the gang fled in the Saab, registration C19 JCA, it went along Regent Road to a point near to the M602 roundabout, where it was abandoned.

The five men ran south towards Phoebe Street and into the Ordsall estate, Salford.

Moments later the motorbike was seen at high speed near to West Crown Avenue, Ordsall, with the driver dressed all in black, with a white helmet and the pillion passenger described as a white man, wearing a red top and no helmet.

Shortly after 10am, a black Yamaha 1000cc motorbike, registration R1 GNE, was found abandoned on Thurlow Street, between the M602 and Salford Quays.

The prison van was travelling from HMP Altcourse, near Liverpool, to Manchester Crown Square.

A 28-year-old woman and 24-year-old man have been detained at a house on the Ordsall estate in connection with the incident on suspicion of being involved in assisting an offender.

They have been released on bail pending further inquiries until June 26, 2013.

They remain in police custody for questioning.

Police also appealed for anyone who had seen any of the vehicles, particularly the Saab, before, during or after the attack, to get in touch.