Kirkless Magistrates Court
Kirklees Magistrates Court, where Gary Bell cut his throat after being sentenced for assault Maps

A man stood inside a courtroom took out a knife and slashed his own throat after he was sentenced to 16 weeks in jail.

Gary Bell, 20, was being sentenced in room two of Kirklees Magistrates Court in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, when he was said to have removed a blade from his pocket and cut his own throat.

Bell was handed the 16-week sentence after pleading guilty to three counts of assault by beating and two of criminal damage.

He was said to have been able to smuggle the blade into the courtroom by hiding it in a packet of Rizla cigarette papers and handing it over to security staff before passing through the metal detector.

A security guard inside the court also sustained minor injuries during the incident.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: "We can confirm that a 20-year-old man from Milnsbridge has sustained self-inflicted neck injuries while attending Kirklees Magistrates' Court just before three o'clock this afternoon.

"He was taken by ambulance to Leeds General Infirmary with serious lacerations to his neck."

Bell was being sentenced after he admitted beating up two males and a female in Huddersfield on 18 June.

He also caused £200 worth of damage after smashing a window and damaging a fence on the same day.