Teenage inmate stabbed music teacher at prison
A TEENAGER stabbed a music teacher with a makeshift weapon during a lesson at a young offender institution after he had attacked a fellow inmate.
The teacher had tried to split up the inmates but later realised he was bleeding from a puncture wound to his abdomen.
Corey Gauci, 18, produced a homemade shank with a screw and used it to attack a 17-year-old inmate at a portable cabin at HMP Parc in Bridgend.
The defendant had been sentenced to 16 months’ detention for possession of an offensive weapon and affray.
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on February 1 was played footage of the attack which took place on June 7 last year.
In the footage, Gauci could be seen standing by the kitchen area before producing the weapon from his pocket and walking over to the teenager before hitting him in the face.
Prosecutor Laurence Jones said teacher Adam Kemble initially thought the two teenagers were fooling around but saw the defendant throwing punches at the inmate’s face, which was bleeding.
Mr Kemble got up and stood between them, when the victim picked up a guitar and tried to get at Gauci.
The teacher prevented him from doing so but the defendant then tried to get at the victim and threw more punches.
Prison officers attended the scene and took Gauci and the victim back to their cells.
At that stage, Mr Kemble had not realised he had been injured due to adrenaline and the shock of the situation, but later saw he had suffered a puncture wound to his abdomen, which was bleeding.
He treated it with antiseptic cream and a plaster, and did not require hospital treatment.
Upon viewing the CCTV footage, prison officers realised Gauci had a weapon and went to his cell, but he told them he had flushed it down the toilet.
But the weapon was described by the defendant in a recorded phone call to his girlfriend, during which he told her he was unlikely to be released in three weeks as he had stabbed someone and “shanked a teacher”.
Gauci, of Minehead Road, Llanrumney, Cardiff, later pleaded guilty to two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and unauthorised possession of blade in prison.
The court heard he also had previous convictions for possession of cannabis and a bladed article, as well as the offences for which he received a detention order.
Defence barrister Cora Sorensen said there had been a “marked change in attitude” in her client since the incident, and he had cooperated with those in authority.
She said the defendant had served the equivalent of 14 months in detention on remand.
Sentencing, Judge Eugene Egan said: “This was wholly unlawful and wholly needless violence. I commend staff for the way they diffused the situation with a swift response and order restored swiftly.
Gauci was sentenced to six months’ detention in a young offender institution.
Due to time he had spent in detention on remand, he was told he would be released later the same day.