Escaped prisoner caught after attempting to buy Call of Duty

An 'idiotic' armed robber who was on the run from a Bucks prison was caught by police, who stopped him as he came out of hiding to buy Call of Duty.

Clint Butler, 36, escaped from Spring Hill while serving a 17-year extended sentence for robbery and firearms offences.

He was due to be released in 2024 but fled on November 28, 2020, which sparked a major police manhunt.

Dramatic footage shows the moment he was caught by chance by police as he was shopping in Martineau Way in Birmingham city centre with a friend.

Bodycam footage shows PCs Mark Owen and Allison Brown approach the pair on January 13 and ask them why they were not at home during lockdown.

READ MORE: Police hunt for prisoner who escaped from HMP Springhill

Butler replies: "I've come to get the new Call of Duty because I can't sit around in lockdown."

PC Owen asked the pair where they live and when they say Stetchford, which is seven miles away, the officer says: "Stechford is not appropriate travel.

"I'm going to check your details because blatantly you both saw us walking up here and you've come round and turned away."

Footage then shows Butler kick PC Owen in the groin and punch PC Brown in the face before attempting to run away but he falls over and is wrestled to the ground.

PC Brown is heard radioing colleagues for back-up before shouting at Butler: "Get off! Get the **** off! Get down."

Clint Butler was arrested in January, six weeks after he broke out of Spring Hill in Bucks

Two shop security guards who witnessed the attack then helped restrain Butler as he continued to lash out at the two cops.

He is finally handcuffed after officers use incapacitant spray on Butler who then gives officers a false name and admits to having cannabis on him.

But officers become suspicious and press him to reveal his details, before he finally admits his true identity.

PC Brown then checks police records which reveal he is a wanted man.

She says to her colleague: "He told me a different name. He's wanted for absconding from prison, I knew it would be more serious than a bit of weed."

PC Brown is then congratulated by another officer who tells her: "Instinct Ally, instinct."

She jokingly replies: "I kept my hat on!"

On Thursday, March 4, Butler was jailed for a total of 19 months, 13 for absconding from prison and six for assaulting the officers, when he appeared at Birmingham Crown Court.

Superintendent Nick Rowe, of West Midlands Police, said: "This was great work by our officers, acting on instinct that there was something not quite right and then challenging the men.

A still image from the video that was captured on a body cam

"The situation escalated really quickly, but both PCs put their training to good effect by restraining Butler, subduing him and getting him safely in handcuffs, while also calling for back-up from officers nearby.

READ MORE: HMP Spring Hill: Man charged for allegedly escaping prison

"I'd like to thank the security staff who came to help our officers.

"It also shows the power of body-worn video, with the officers turning their cameras on before they started speaking to the men.

"It meant the whole episode was clearly caught on camera and there was no doubt about what happened.

"Quite why he decided to risk being returned to prison by making the idiotic decision to come into town during lockdown with a friend to buy a video game will remain a bit of a mystery."