Prisoners jailed over attacks behind bars

Benjamin Handley, formerly of Barnsley, has had an extra 16 months added onto his sentence after pleading guilty to three counts of assault and one count of possessing an improvised weapon.

Three prison officers at HMP Lindholme were injured during an incident in which Handley had a tin or sardines in a sock and was swinging it around, before spitting at officers trying to restrain him.

The 30-year-old is currently serving time for wounding with intent to commit grievous bodily harm.

Inmate Gary Nicholas, formerly of Edlington, Doncaster, has had an extra five years added onto his sentence for headbutting a prison officer and kicking him in the face in December last year.

The attack took place when Nicholas was due to be transferred to another prison from HMP Marshgate but refused.

He was due to be released from prison this month.

Meanwhile, Daniel Skelton, 24, formerly of Mexborough, Doncaster, was jailed for 14 months after pleading guilty to possession of an improvised weapon while serving a sentence at HMP Moorland.

Skelton was released from prison in June this year but was returned to custody after a hearing at Sheffield Crown Court this week.

James Rickett, 51, formerly of Merseyside, was sentenced to extra time behind bars after being convicted of causing £14,000 worth of damage at HMP Lindholme.

He climbed onto the roof of a prison building and threw tiles onto greenhouses below in November 2016.

He is currently serving a 12-year sentence for robbery and would have been due for release in 2019, but will now serve a further 20 months behind bars.

Prisoner Sean Murphy has had an extra year added onto sentence after pleading guilty to possession of two mobile phones at HMP Lindholme.

Acting Detective Sergeant Alex Dorlin, from the Prison Investigation Team, said: “This week has seen some really positive results and I’m grateful to the tenacity and dedication of the team who have worked hard to bring these cases before the courts.

“Two of these men assaulted prison officers, which is completely despicable, and they will now spend more time behind bars for their crimes.

“The others committed offences that could have caused harm or showed a blatant disregard for the terms of their imprisonment and as such, all now face the consequences of their foolish and sometimes dangerous behaviour.

“We hope that these further successes demonstrate to the public that we are not complacent with crime inside prisons and will take action to bring offenders to justice.”