Inmate doled out 'sickening' attack inside a Durham prison

Ross MacPherson’s brutal and sustained attack was captured on the CCTV system inside HMP Frankland in Durham.

The 35-year-old was caught following his victim into his cell before raining down punches and stamps to the head, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Albany Kidd, prosecuting, said: “The CCTV captures him falling to the floor with his head just outside the door to the cell.

“The defendant then appears on top of him and lands repeated punches to his face and head – around ten punches in total.

“He then stands and stamps his feet on his head and face around five times.”

Miss Kidd said the victim suffered a serious break to his nose during the ‘persistent’ attack.

The court heard how the defendant had a long history of violence both inside and outside of the prison system.

MacPherson, who appeared in court via a video link from HMP Wakefield, pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm on January 2 this year.

David Callan, mitigating, said his client had not had the best start to life, with his father spending time in prison and his mother abandoning him as a child.

He added: “It is not a pleasant offence, but it appears to have been over in a few minutes.”

Recorder Nicholas Lumley KC described the CCTV footage as sickening as he sentenced Macpherson to a further two years in custody for one of the most serious offences he had seen of its kind.

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“This was a very serious assault, whatever the provocation may have been,” he said.

“The fact is that you could have caused a very serious lifelong injury or even worse. It is pure luck that you are not facing a more serious charge.

“The sustained nature of the assault, the repeated blows and the repeated use of your foot as a weapon while your victim was utterly defenceless are serious features.

“It is sickening to watch what you did. It was only short-lived, relatively, but only perhaps because you believed that real damage had been caused to your victim.”