A MAN dressed in a dog s outfit who tried to break into a prison is believed to currently be detained at a mental health hospital in the East End. The man apparently dressed as the cartoon character Snoopy and his accomplice were arrested by police at

A MAN dressed in a dog's outfit who tried to break into a prison is believed to currently be detained at a mental health hospital in the East End.

The man apparently dressed as the cartoon character Snoopy and his accomplice were arrested by police at the door of the HMP Isle of Wight after damaging some of the windows and prison officers' cars parked outside.

The two men, aged 43 and 21-year-old, were believed to be trying to break in to the prison on Saturday night May 1 to free a relative at the prison.

The pair were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and detained under the Mental Health Act.

They are believed to now be inpatients at the Tower Hamlets Mental Health Unit at Mile End Hospital in Bancroft Road.

It later emerged the pair had tried to break into the wrong prison as they had staged the attempted jail-break at the Isle of Wight's Albany site, while the relative they were looking for was locked up in the nearby Cramp Hill unit.

A police spokesman said: "Two men were both arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and taken to Newport Police Station for questioning.

"Police are taking no further action against the men due to their status under the Mental Health Act.