Aaron Marriot is escorted out of a sheriffs van after a fight Friday. (CBC)

A fight broke out in the back of a Nova Scotia Sheriff Service van Friday, resulting in one man being taken to hospital.

The officer driving the vehicle noticed the disturbance between Maselle Beals and Aaron Marriot while on the highway between the Burnside jail and the Dartmouth courthouse.

The prisoner transport truck sped to the Dartmouth courthouse, where about a dozen sheriffs were waiting.

Officers threw open the van doors and stormed in. Marriot and Beals soon spilled out onto the ground. Marriot's white dress shirt was stained with blood, and Beals appeared to have a split lip.

Maselle Beals suffered a split lip in the altercation. (CBC)

Both men appeared to be wearing shackles and handcuffs, though Marriot had one hand free. Officers took both men down, threatening them with pepper spray, before escorting them into the court.

"That was a nice little scrap, Maselle," Marriot said as he was re-handcuffed. "Maselle, I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Nope," Beals replied. "Wasn't nothing, buddy."

An ambulance arrived shortly after and Beals was placed on a stretcher. The stretcher appeared to be used because Beals was in shackles and so could not climb in.

Beals hollered that he would be unavailable for court as he was loaded into the ambulance.

Officials at the Department of Justice were unaware of the fight until CBC News alerted them. They said they were gathering more information on the situation .

Beals was supposed to be in court on a series of weapons charges and breaches of court orders. Marriot is appearing for a sentencing hearing related to a jail riot in 2009.