(a) Any person while in the custody of the Division of Prisons, or any person under the custody of any local confinement facility as defined in G.S. 153A-217, who shall have in his possession without permission or authorization a weapon capable of inflicting serious bodily injuries or death, or who shall fabricate or create such a weapon from any source, shall be guilty of a Class H felony; and any person who commits any assault with such weapon and thereby inflicts bodily injury or by the use of said weapon effects an escape or rescue from imprisonment shall be punished as a Class F felon.
(b) A person is guilty of a Class H felony if he assists a prisoner in the custody of the Division of Prisons or of any local confinement facility as defined in G.S. 153A-217 in escaping or attempting to escape and:
(1) In the perpetration of the escape or attempted escape he commits an assault with a deadly weapon and inflicts bodily injury; or
(2) By the use of a deadly weapon he effects the escape of the prisoner.