2
8
This the dramatic moment a troubled prisoner barricaded himself in his cell and torched it before riot officers forced themselves inside to rescue him.
Convicted robber John Defty was an inmate at HMP Northumberland when he started the blaze - having armed himself with a razor.
Dramatic CCTV footage from inside the jail begins by showing smoke billowing from under the door of the cell as prison officers struggle to open it.
Prison guards, some in riot gear, appear and eventually manage to force entry as thick black smoke which engulfed the cell is seen pouring out into the corridor.
Brave guards risked their lives to go in to search for Defty but he had crawled out, Chronicle Live reports.
Two members of staff needed hospital treatment for smoke inhalation, a court heard.
Defty admitted arson at Newcastle Crown Court but was spared another spell behind bars following his release.
He instead received a suspended sentence.
The court heard Defty was a regular abuser of legal high Spice and was suffering from mental health issues and suicidal thoughts when he started the fire on Boxing Day in 2015.