A dock officer was injured this afternoon when trouble flared at Maidstone Crown Court during a sentencing hearing.

An ambulance rushed to the scene after the male officer was said to have collapsed. The air ambulance was also called, but has been stood down.

The trouble started after a judge jailed two men and a woman for a conspiracy involving “creeper burglaries” in which homes in Kent were broken into and high value cars were stolen from outside.

The men, Bill Burton and Wayne Goodwin, became aggressive and the dock officer and a female colleague then struggled to control them. Another dock officer from an adjoining court went to help.

The injured officer was said to have later collapsed. He has been taken to hospital by ambulance.

Kent Police confirmed they were called to reports of a man being assaulted inside Maidstone Crown Court at 4.41pm

The South East Coast Air Amublance Service and the air ambulance have also been called to the scene.

Burton, of Avenue Road, Erith, and Goodwin, also known as Cousins, of Edendale Road, Barnehurst, Bexleyheath, were each sentenced to five years.

Burton’s ex-girlfriend Jerry-Lee Shoebridge, 21, of Lanridge Road, Abbey Wood, south east London, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years.

Burton became angry when Judge Julian Smith indicated mother-of-one Shoebridge would be sent to prison immediately.

Burton, 24, and Goodwin, 33, admitted conspiracy to burgle, while Shoebridge denied the charge but was convicted in July.

The offences involved eight burglaries in Trubridge Road and Bells Lane, Hoo, St David’s Road, Allhallows, Willowbank, High Halstow, The Drove Way, Istead Rise, Northwood Drive, Sittingbourne, Beckett Close, Belvedere, and Coltfoot Drive, Maidstone, between May 17 and June 8 last year.

Prosecutor Lucy Sweetland said after cars were stolen from homes they were driven to south east London in convoy.

The least expensive care was valued at £10,000 and the most expensive £42,500. The total value of cars and property stolen was up to £200,000.

When Shoebridge’s home was raided on June 11 some of the stolen property was found there. Burton and Cousins were also present.

“It was not hidden,” said Miss Sweetland. “It was scattered among different rooms in the house. Some of it was very distinctive. One example is a silver engraved hip flask.

“Two of the stolen cars had been parked close by. One of them had been parked in a road just one street away from her address. The owner received a parking ticket.”

Danny Moore, for Burton, said his client had a fractured skull after being attacked in prison. When the dock officer tried to restrain Burton his brother shouted from the public gallery: “He’s got a head injury.”