An inmate repeatedly attacked prison officers at Welsh prisons and assaulted an officer by throwing a kettle of boiling water at him. He suffered burns to his face and an abrasion to his eye.
Charlie Yeo, 27, was imprisoned for seven years for wounding with intent and was further sentenced in 2019 for possession of an unauthorised weapon in prison. He was sent to HMP Parc in Bridgend after assaulting a prison officer at HMP Dartmoor when he used a vape to stab him, and punched another officer using a "haymaker".
A sentencing hearing at Newport Crown Court on Thursday heard on October 20, 2022, the defendant was being disruptive at HMP Parc and assaulted a prison officer by slapping him to the face and biting him on the ear, causing a wound. On September 8, 2023, Yeo assaulted another prison officer by throwing a number of punches at him, causing a laceration.
The defendant was moved to HMP Cardiff, but on November 30, 2023 he argued with a prison officer about vapes and responded by throwing a kettle containing boiling water at him. The assault caused burns to the officer's face and an abrasion to his eye. It was accepted that Yeo had not boiled the kettle with the intention of assaulting the officer.
On April 3 this year, Yeo's cell at HMP Cardiff was searched and he was found in possession of an improvised weapon with a sharp point and a makeshift handle. The defendant later pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding, assaulting occasioning actual bodily harm, assaulting an emergency worker, inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent, wounding and possession of a knife or offensive weapon in prison.
In mitigation, defence barrister Sol Hartley said his client has been in prison for eight years and has "lost any hope for the future". He said the defendant was taken into care at the age of nine years old following the death of his father and had been through 40 placements throughout his childhood.
Sentencing, Judge Daniel Williams said the defendant had committed "repeated incidents of serious violence in a prison setting" and has a "serious history of violence" demonstrated by his antecedence record. He sentenced Yeo to a total of five years imprisonment, with an extended licence period of three years.
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