AN inmate claimed he had, “no alternative” but to attack his “dangerous” cell-mate, when prison officers intervened in the confrontation.

Staff on B-wing at Durham Prison attended after screams were heard coming from the cell, at 10pm on Saturday January 16, this year.

Durham Crown Court was told that on reaching the cell, the officers saw defendant Daniel Lupu, a Romanian national, striking his cell-mate with an object.

They separated the pair and one of them was seen to be bleeding and in obvious pain.

Paul Newcombe, prosecuting, said the injured inmate was hobbling about the cell, holding his left arm.

He told the officers that he had been hit by an object and was in pain, but he refused to give any more details.

Mr Newcombe told the court: “The prosecution say he must have struck him a number of times as there were a number of injuries.

“Most significant was an open fracture of the left forearm, but there were also fractures of a toe, the head of the toe, and a thumb.

“There was superficial laceration to the chest and a number of superficial grazes of the arms and legs.”

The “weapon” was seized from the defendant and was found to be a mobility handle, ripped from the wall, next to the toilet.

Mr Newcombe said Lupu admitted having inflicted the injuries on his cellmate.

“He said he had broken the hand rail off the wall for his own protection.

“He told the officers that the complainant was dangerous.

“At one point he said the complainant did not have a human face and thought he was a robot.

“He said he had no alternative but to behave as he did.”

The wound inflicted was described as a ‘Monteggia fracture’ of the ulna, a forearm bone, and a displaced radius, at the elbow.

Mr Newcombe said Lupu, a remand inmate at the time., has no previous convictions for violence.

Admitting a charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm, the 28-year-old defendant, of Hulme, in Greater Manchester, said, through a Romanian interpreter: “I’m sorry about it. I’m ‘guilty’, but it was unintentional.”

Mr Newcombe said the Crown was seeking a restraining order.

But, Ian West, representing Lupu, said: “Ordinarily there could be no resistance to such an order, that a man who has assaulted another should stay away from his victim in future.

“But, in this case, I do not know if the victim is still a serving inmate, or not.

“If not, the chances of a meeting outside the custodial environment are ‘nil’.”

Judge James Adkin agreed and said such an order would appear unnecessary.

But he said such was the persistence of the assault, resulting in an injury that required surgery, that it had to be immediate custody.

Imposing a 30-month prison sentence he told Lupu that after serving half ‘inside’ and then be deported or released on licence.

 

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