A man accused of stealing from an ambulance as it responded to a 999 call failed to appear in court - after refusing to leave his cell.

Carl Lister Wilkinson, 36, was supposed to appear before magistrates in Carlisle yesterday via videolink.

He is charged with theft from a motor vehicle, following the incident in Workington on August 3, last year.

A basic life support bag and contents, worth £650, were stolen from an North West Ambulance Service ambulance as paramedics attended a patient who had gone into cardiac arrest.

Wilkinson's lawyer, Claire Kirkpatrick, told the court her client had refused to leave his prison cell.

Magistrates sent the case to be heard at Carlisle Crown Court on April 3.