A man broke a prison officer's jaw after he was told to remove his flip flops, a court heard.
Rory Payne, 26, was serving a six year sentence in custody at HMP Risley, Warrington, for possession of a firearm when the attack took place.
At Liverpool Crown Court on Friday, Chris Taylor, prosecuting, detailed that on January 5, 2022, at around 9.15am, Payne tried to enter a room in the prison while wearing flip flops. He was told by prison officer Vincent Shanahan that he had to change into trainers before going into that room, as per prison rules.
READ NEXT: Kieran Salkeld and Jake Duffy named as alleged attempted murder victims
At this, Payne began acting verbally abusive and said “f*** off you d***head” to the officer, so Mr Shanahan tried to escort him out of the area using “minimal force” and asked other officers to assist. Payne then punched Officer Shanahan hard in the face, and he described feeling “ a sharp pain to his jaw” before blacking out.
In a statement read out by Mr Taylor, the officer wrote: “Everything went black, the last thing I remembered was being dragged along by other officers to the office.” He described feeling “an immense amount of pain”, and after a CT scan at the hospital, was told his jaw was in fact broken, but no surgery was required.
The victim also suffered injuries to his shoulder and bruising, and said it “felt like he had been in a car crash”. CCTV of the attack was shown in court, and the defendant could be clearly seen punching the prison officer, and then continuing to hit Mr Shanahan even after he had fallen to the ground.
Mr Shanahan was not able to return to full duties at the prison for six months after the attack. Payne pleaded guilty to one count of wounding without intent in December.
He was previously released into a probation hostel on September 30, 2022, but that placement broke down so he was recalled back to prison. The 26-year-old has 16 previous convictions for 25 offences, including for assaulting a police officer, dishonesty and public order offences.
Katy Appleton, defending, told the court Payne has no formal qualifications, but since being in custody has completed level one and two in hospitality, catering and business, and has used his time in jail well. Ms Appleton read a letter from Payne out in court detailing his remorse for the attack.
It read: “I am really sorry for what happened that day, for how I behaved and my actions that day. I felt provoked, pushed, belittled and antagonised. It was wrong and there is no justification for it. I can only apologise for what happened and for the officers' pain.”
Payne also wrote that whenever he is freed from prison, he has a job waiting for him. In sentencing, District Judge Sarah-Jane Griffiths said: “You rained a number of blows on him.
“Once on the ground, you continued to throw punches at the officer.” She added: “I am pleased to hear that you want to turn your life around, but you are where you are because of your offending, but I hope that you mean what you say.”
“Within that letter you are still blaming the victim and there is some minimisation of your culpability and for what you did. “If you felt the officer was belittling you, there are different ways to go about that.”
“This was a violent assault on a police officer who was doing his job. “The rules in prison are there for a reason.
“The fact of the matter is the officer asked you to change your shoes when you did not do that, you didn’t listen to the officer, and you lost it.” Judge Griffiths sentenced Payne to 24 months imprisonment to be served concurrently with his current sentence of six years.
She also ordered the £156 victim surcharge to be paid directly to the victim in compensation.
Read next:
Liverpool prisoners shoot rap video in jail
Martin Lewis issues 'heartbreaking' warning to anyone booking a holiday
People 'devastated' by loss of Martin Gregory who was hit by HGV
Met Office issue weather warning for heavy rain as floods expected
