A PRISON custody officer who was assaulted as she escorted a prisoner from a hearing at London’s Blackfriars Crown Court to a waiting van has died.

Serco employee Lorraine Barwell was treated at the scene before being taken to hospital by air ambulance, but Scotland Yard confirmed yesterday she had passed away.

Her death was “a sad reminder of the danger that prison staff put themselves in on a daily basis to protect the public,” said shadow justice minister Jenny Chapman.