Prisoner accused of a ‘ferocious assault’

A PRISONER serving eight years for aggravated burglary and assault has been accused of punching and kicking an officer so badly that he will remain in hospital until tomorrow.

The prisoner, who is from Cork, was transferred from jail in his home city to the Midlands Prison after allegedly attacking two guards.

The prisoner, due out in mid-2005, is expected to face further charges in connection with Thursday night's assault and the earlier one in Cork.

Prison insiders described how a prison guard was escorting an inmate when he was attacked. The prisoner punched the officer and then kicked him as he fell to the ground.

The officer suffered a broken nose and suspected fractures to his fingers.

He was taken to Portlaoise and then Tullamore Hospital following the assault. Sources said the unnamed officer will be kept in until tomorrow.

Eyewitnesses said the officer lost a huge amount of blood, such was the ferocity of the assault.

"This guy had previously assaulted staff down in Cork Prison and was transferred up to the Midlands," a source said.

Another source added: "Around about 7pm, the officer was directing prisoners to the exercise yard when this man turned on the officer. He smashed him across the face and then when he was down starting kicking him. It was a ferocious assault."

He is serving five years for aggravated burglary and three years for assault. He has already served a number of years and is due out in two.

The number of serious assaults on prison officers those that go before the criminal injuries tribunal is now close to 100 every year, a 50% increase over a five-year period to 2002.

The Prison Officers' Association has described the increase as alarming.

Officers have suffered trauma as they undergo tests to see if they have contracted HIV or hepatitis from a needle or a bite, according to the POA.