MoJ refuses to publish report on why hammer-wielding killer Damien Bendall had access to weapon in prison
The Government will not publish a report why a Killamarsh man who murdered three children with a hammer was then given access to a hammer in prison, which he then used to nearly kill an inmate.
Damien Bendall, aged 36, was already serving a whole-life sentence for killing his pregnant partner and three children in Derbyshire when he attacked another prisoner at HMP Frankland, Durham, in 2024.
He reportedly bludgeoned the inmate, Michael Mullaney, four times with a claw hammer without warning in a prison workshop.
The Star contacted the Ministry of Justice to ask whether a serious incident report or a probe was carried out over why a man serving a life sentence for murdering children with a hammer was given access to a hammer while behind bars.
The Star also asked what has been done to prevent incidents like this happening again.
In reply, a spokesperson for the MoJ said this information will not be released to the public.
They said: “Following the incident, all prisons carried out reviews of prisoner and workshop risk assessments. Strict controls for tools were also checked, and additional oversight by managers was put in place.”
When asked if this will be made public, the spokesperson said: “The review was internal, the action that has been taken is detailed [above].”
Appearance from HMP Wakefield
At his sentencing for attempted murder on February 23, 2026, Bendall appeared on a live link video from HMP Wakefield, in South Yorkshire.
The Star asked the MoJ to clarify whether this indicated Bendall has been transferred from HMP Frankland.
The spokesperson said the Government does not publicise prisoner locations.
Bendall was handed another minimum term of 15 years - although the judge clarified that Bendall will never be released from prison in any event.
Killamarsh killings
In September 2021, Bendall used a claw hammer to kill 35-year-old Terri Harris and her children, 13-year-old John Paul Bennett and 11-year-old Lacey Bennett, who he also raped, at the family home in Chandos Crescent in September 2021.
He also killed Lacey’s young friend, Connie Gent, who was at the home for a sleepover.
In 2023, a coroner concluded that a series of “very stark” failures by the probation service to see Bendall for the risk he posed contributed to the murders of John Paul, Lacey, Connie and Terri.
Senior coroner for Derby and Derbyshire Peter Nieto heard how Bendall was deemed a 'low risk' to partners and children and recommended for curfew at Ms Harris’s home in the pre-sentence report written by a probation officer - a report that Mr Nieto described as "wholly inadequate and misleading" and that was part of a "profoundly and seriously flawed" report process.
The Probation Service accepted 51 separate failings at the inquests, held at Chesterfield Coroner’s Court, in which it accepted a catalogue of missed opportunities and lack of scrutiny concerning Bendall’s supervision going back several years.