A prisoner facing trial for a racist attack escaped from custody yesterday when two armed men ambushed his prison van as he was taken to court. The van driver was beaten to the ground.

Wayne Connor, 20, was driven away after the hold-up near Feltham Young Offender Institution, West London.

Two men wearing balaclavas held up the van at about 7.30am, smashed the driver’s window, threatened him and his assistant with a shotgun and demanded the release of the prisoner.

Mr Connor has been charged with two racially aggravated assaults and burglary offences. He was due to appear at Woolwich Crown Court yesterday for a plea and case management hearing.

Witnesses described how the two armed men stopped their car immediately in front of the van before attacking the driver. They beat the driver to the ground, leaving him lying in the middle of the road with blood pouring from his head.

One witness said: “I heard a huge crash before I opened the curtains and when I looked out I saw glass everywhere and the driver’s side window had been smashed. I saw a couple of guys beating the driver. They kept hitting him round the head until he toppled over . . . He was lying in the middle of the road with blood pouring out of his head.

“A queue of maybe 20 or 30 cars had built up behind the van during the attack, which lasted maybe five minutes. No one got out to help the driver while he was being beaten up.

“When the attackers left, some men got out of their cars and wrapped the driver up in a coat.”

Two other prisoners were on board but did not escape.

A spokesman for Serco, which is responsible for prisoner transfers, said that the driver required hospital treatment for minor injuries and that the other member of staff was unhurt.

Mr Connor’s codefendant also escaped from custody last year. Jason McInerney, 21, bit a detective’s nose as he jumped from the dock at Reading Crown Court and fled last March. He was captured several days later.

He was due in court alongside his friend Mr Connor and a third man. The three are accused of a racially aggravated assault during a burglary in West Dray-ton on August 4 last year.

Detective Inspector Alan Holford said: “Wayne Connor is a member of the traveller community in Hertfordshire. The men [who took away] Mr Connor are known to use aliases and false documents. They used violence today and have access to weapons.

“We also know that they use hotels so we are appealing to staff in hotels to keep an eye out for them.”

Mr Holford said that the public should not approach Mr Connor or his companions as they are known to use violence.

“It is not just about finding Mr Connor, but also about finding the men who brandished a firearm on the streets of Feltham this morning.”

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