Prison officer attacked on first day at Stoke Heath
A prison officer who was beaten by a Stoke Heath inmate on his first day in the job has been left uncertain that he will ever be able to return to work properly.
The officer had just started work at Stoke Heath Young Offenders Institute near Market Drayton when he was attacked by Dean Price, a 21-year-old convict with a with a history of robbery, battery and GBH offences.
The victim was the sole officer on the ground floor dealing with a number of inmates when Price came down the stairs to launch his assault.
Prosecutor Sati Ruck told Shrewsbury Crown Court about the incident on October 18.
She said: “The officer turned towards the prisoner and he felt a sharp blow to the left side of his face.
"It knocked him back onto some telephone boxes.
"The defendant then punched him repeatedly with both hands – about three or four times with each fist.
"He eventually managed to push the prisoner off and shout for assistance. As other officers went down, the defendant surrendered.”
Boiling water
Price was serving 45 months for his part in an attack with an accomplice on a woman which resulted in her suffering severe burns and a fractured cheekbone.
The pair beat her and threw a kettle full of boiling water on her in a row over drugs.
Price told other prison guards that it was not a targeted attack, and that he simply lashed out so he would be moved to another wing.
Ms Ruck added: “The victim was taken to Royal Shrewsbury Hospital A&E department.
"His face, lips and nose were swollen. He had cuts to his face and a laceration to his back from where he landed on the telephones.”
She also said that in his victim statement, he said he now suffers from anxiety, struggles to deal with crowds and is “always looking over my shoulder”.
He also said he has needed counselling, has only been able to go back to work on restricted duties and does not know if he’ll ever be able to return to his full workload.
Price, whose address was given as Stoke Heath YOI, pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm.
Paul Smith, defending Price, said: “He has barely been out of custody since the age of 16. There is the problem that he could become institutionalised.
"He is determined not to go back to prison after his sentence has been served.”
Judge Jeremy Baker told Price: “The victim was 28 and it was his first day in the job. You have a serious list of offences.”
He sentenced Price to ten months, to be added onto his current sentence.
