Prison officer ‘incited inmates to violence’

A prison officer encouraged inmates to attack each other because he hated the sexual offenders he guarded in a special section of a prison, a Guildford Crown Court has heard.

James Cookson, who worked at HMP High Down in Surrey, denies illicitly releasing information about a prisoner to others at the jail and encouraging inmates into violently attacking each other. Mr Cookson did not appear in court.