Houdini-style escape ends badly. 

A prisoner has made an extraordinary escape from the court dock after being told he had been refused bail.

Craig Ellis, 30, appeared in Lincoln Magistrates’ Court for his trial as a cat burglar. However, after he learnt that he was due to remain in custody he made a desperate bid for freedom.

The former drug addict used a wooden shelf to shift himself up and through the narrow ceiling bars of the dock he was being held in. From here, Ellis managed to slide his entire body through the tiny gap as the stunned dock officer desperately tried to pull him back by his legs, the Telegraph reported.

The burglar then made a bid for freedom, running towards the exit of the court room. However, he was thwarted when a probation officer who witnessed the escape quickly forced the doors shut. After running around the court room for less than a minute, Ellis gave up on his grand escape and was escorted back to the dock.

Judge Michael Heath when jailing Ellis told him: “This was a very determined effort to escape from the court. It was only thanks to the quick thinking of a probation officer that you were unable to do so.”

The judge went on to jail the burglar for three years and three months for his crimes and the escape bid from custody.