High risk inmate caught with knife at Stoke Heath jailed
A high risk inmate found with a home made knife at a prison near Market Drayton has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.
Terrence McCann, 46, was found with the blade while imprisoned at HMP Stoke Heath in June last year.
He denied possession of an offensive weapon but was found guilty by a jury following his trial at Shrewsbury Crown Court.
McCann, who refused to leave his cell for the hearing, was sentenced in his absence yesterday.
Judge Anthony Lowe said an assessment report found McCann to be of 'high risk' to staff in the criminal justice system.
"What concerns me is the fact that he was in possession of a knife in a prison setting," Mr Lowe said.
"I cannot imagine anything more volatile. I do not know whether he had it for his own protection or to threaten or inflict injuries in order to extort power in that setting.
"When he was transferred from Liverpool to Stoke Heath, he told prison officers that he shouldn't be transferred because he was too dangerous to go to a prison of that type. He is of very high risk to staff due to his feeling that he is being victimised by the system.
The case:
"My suspicion is that the defendant does have some mental health issues, none of which are being addressed.
"All in all it is a dangerous cocktail."
McCann, of Liverpool, was searched after he punched a prison officer less than an hour after he arrived at Stoke Heath from HMP Liverpool earlier that day.
A repeat offender, he had 54 previous convictions, mainly in the Merseyside area, including for firearms, assault, drugs, arson, kidnap and false imprisonment.
In 2017 he was jailed for 27 months for wounding. In March 2018 he was recalled to prison. But three months later he was caught with the weapon.
Mr Nick Cockerell, representing McCann, conceded that under the sentencing guidelines it was a top end category one offence.
He told the court that the defendant had been in custody since then.
McCann had pushed into a meal queue on June 18, 2018 at Stoke Heath. When he was confronted by the prison officers McCann became abusive.
He was followed into a cell in the prison's G wing where there was a struggle resulting in the officers restraining him. He was searched and the improvised metal weapon found.
MCCann will serve two years and six months minus the time already spent in custody. The judge ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the knife.
Following the verdict earlier this week, McCann, started singing 'Que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be', a song made famous by Doris Day.
