THE MINISTRY of Justice confirmed an investigation is underway after a convicted criminal leapt out of a court dock and escaped the building last week.

Martin Sama had just been dealt the news he was being sent to prison for 27 weeks when he decided to take matters into his own hands. Instead of accepting the punishment, he jumped over the glass-topped wall and sprinted out of the court house.

Security guards and a prosecutor tried to stop the 29-year-old from escaping, but he managed to evade their clutches and run all the way to Argos in Broad Street, more than 700 meters before he was snared.

Now MOJ has launched an official probe into how the defendant was able to escape.

A spokesman said: "Police and court staff worked together to quickly recapture a defendant who escaped from Reading Crown Court on Thursday 18 May 2017. The incident will be investigated."

Sama was stood before Judge Angela Morris on Thursday May 18 after being convicted of a string of offences.

They include attacking courageous police dog Caesar, a Dutch Shephard, after Sama led police on a high-speed pursuit through Reading.

An eye-witness told the Chronicle: "Suddenly out of nowhere he launched his body over the top of the glass of the dock.

"People thought he had had a medical emergency.

"He sprinted out of the court room and the prosecuting lawyer Paul Fairley tried to stop him, but Sama was running too quickly."

Police and security guards chasing Sama eventually stopped him in his tracks and escorted him back to Reading Crown Court.

He remanded in custody and will face a judge again next week.

Sama, of Lorne Street, Reading, was convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, assaulting a constable, possessing an offensive weapon in a public place, possessing cannabis, driving dangerously and driving while disqualified and without insurance.