A DRUG dealer saw his prison term increased by a year yesterday as punishment for trying to escape from court.

Sean Simon Stack, 23, of The Village, Stockton-on-the-Forest, fought with officers in the dock on Friday after being handed an eight-month jail sentence for dealing in cannabis.

Stack’s attempts to escape landed him back at York Crown Court yesterday – where he appeared via videolink from prison in Hull.

The recorder of York, Judge Stephen Ashurst, who saw Stack’s assault, said: “Incidents like this are happily very rare, but where a member of the court staff is attacked, a judge must act.

“The incident was not only a single blow, but a series of blows with your fists and feet.

“You are a powerful, fit young man and you used your power to try and escape from the dock.

“It required four security officers to be found in order to restrain you.

“I have not myself witnessed such an exceptional incident for a long time in which serious injury could have been caused to a court officer.”

Judge Ashurst said one officer sustained bruising during the escape attempt, which saw Stack attempt to climb out of the dock before he was eventually taken down to the cells.

He added: “From the point of view of the public, it was a disturbing incident.

“From the point of view of the court staff, it was something that they should not witness.”

Mark Partridge, defending, said: “There is very little that I can add other than to say that the defendant is sorry about his actions.

“He said he found out recently that his mother had cancer and he panicked.”

Jailing Stack, Judge Ashurst said the maximum sentence he had available for contempt of court was two years.

But he ordered that Stack’s one-year jail term should be added to his earlier eight-month sentence.