Leamington attacker tried to escape by climbing out of a window at Warwick Hospital after he was wanted for stabbing someone in the street

After being arrested for stabbing someone in the street, a Leamington man escaped by climbing out of a window at Warwick Hospital where he had been taken after feeling unwell.

But Matthew Cleary, who had been left unattended while a police officer went to get him a pair of slippers, was caught again within minutes, a judge at Warwick Crown Court has heard.

Cleary (27) of Ranelagh Terrace, Leamington, was jailed for a total of two years and four months after pleading guilty to wounding, perverting the course of justice, assault and escape.

Prosecutor Maninder Chaggar said that in October last year Sean Collins and a friend were walking home from a pub in the early hours of the morning when they saw Cleary as they turned into Ranelagh Terrace.

There had been bad blood between Cleary, who was with three other men, and Mr Collins going back three years.

“A fight took place between the two parties, and this defendant has then produced a knife and stabbed the complainant to the stomach, chest and thigh.”

Miss Chaggar pointed out Cleary had entered his plea on the basis that he had picked up the knife after finding it outside his house, and had produced it to protect himself, but accepted he should not have done so.

Cleary then ran off, and Mr Collins was taken to hospital where his wounds, described as being ‘superficial,’ were stitched.

Two months later Mr Collins was in Kingsway, Leamington, when he noticed Cleary staring at him.

Cleary pleaded with him to drop the charges, offering him ‘two grand, three grand, 10 grand, anything you want,’ to do so, before changing his attitude and threatening to stab him again.

After he was eventually traced and arrested on April 13 this year, he was taken to Warwick Hospital two days later after complaining that he was feeling unwell.

At the hospital one police officer stayed in the ground floor room with him, while a second officer remained outside.

Cleary then asked for a pair of slippers, saying he wanted to go to the bathroom – and when the officer with him went to get him some, he jumped out of the open window and made off.

But he was seen jumping over a wall, and was chased and re-arrested not far from the hospital in Wathen Road.

Miss Chaggar said Cleary had also admitted an earlier assault on his girlfriend after he had stayed up all night drinking at their home.

In the morning she was woken by him saying he wanted to go for a walk, and wanted her to accompany him – and he became ‘quite annoyed’ when she said she did not want to.

Fearing violence, she fled from the flat and into the foyer of a neighbouring block where he caught up with her, grabbed her by the hair and banged her head against the wall four or five times, then punched her to the face.

A neighbour intervened and stood between them, despite Cleary squaring up to him, and called the police, at which Cleary, who had previous convictions, but none recent, left.

Nick Devine, defending, conceded: “Plainly these are matters that individually, and certainly cumulatively, pass the custody threshold.”

Of the wounding, he said: “It is clear that over a period of some time there had been some considerable enmity between Mr Cleary and Mr Collins.

“On that night Mr Collins was a more than willing participant in the altercation that took place, and excessive self-defence had a part to play in what happened.”

Jailing Cleary, Recorder Charles Falk told him: “It may very well be that both of you got involved in a fight, but you made it very much more serious because you chose to pick up a knife and brought a knife to a fist fight.

“It is a matter of very good fortune that you did not cause more serious injury than you did. Fortunately there was no internal damage and none of those wounds were life-threatening.”

And Recorder Falk added: “The escape was not the most serious of escapes, it was more opportunistic.

“You were being guarded by two police officers and, using some subterfuge, you arranged for the officer with you to leave, and you took the opportunity of jumping out of the window.”