Inmate gets more time behind bars after attacking South Yorkshire prison officer

Sheffield Crown Court heard on June 14 how Mason Worsnop, aged 21, who is a serving prisoner at HMP Moorland, at Hatfield Woodhouse, Doncaster, had been told to wear his Covid-19 mask properly before he threw a shower gel container at a prison officer and kicked him in the chest during a struggle.

Prosecuting barrister Satpal Roth-Sharma explained Worsnop was seen outside his cell wearing his mask under his chin and not around his mouth and nose.

Ms Roth-Sharma said: “During the course of the morning the complainant saw the defendant not wearing his face mask correctly several times and he approached the defendant about this and he continued to wear it inappropriately.”

Worsnop was warned by the officer and two others and he was told to get in his cell but as he tried to barge past them he was forced back inside and he threw a shower gel at the complainant’s chest, according to Ms Roth-Sharma.

Ms Roth-Sharma said the prisoner forced his way onto the prison landing and the officer fell as he tried to detain him and he was kicked in the chest by the defendant who was eventually put back in his cell by other officers.

Worsnop, of no fixed abode, who has 26 convictions for 50 offences, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm after the incident on February 27, 2021.

Defence barrister Charlotte Noddings said: “He suffers with ADHD. He tells me it is for this reason he struggles to have things on his face and at the time of the offence he was eating and he accepts that what follows was unacceptable.”

Ms Noddings added that father-of-one Worsnop, who had a difficult upbringing as a youngster, wants to address his aggressive behaviour and establish a relationship with his child upon his release.

Recorder Meghan Rhys told Worsnop: “The officer had a bite to a shoulder and a broken rib causing difficulty to breathing and it took six weeks to heal.”

She sentenced Worsnop to six months of custody which will be served consecutively to his current prison sentence.