Court is told man bit prison officer

AN INMATE sank his teeth into a prison officer’s arm after staff had gone into his cell to stop him banging his head on the walls, a court has heard.

Dennis White was being held on remand in HMP Swansea when he bit one officer and struck another in the face with his own radio.

Swansea Crown Court heard that on the afternoon of July 11, 2019, officers heard banging noises coming from White’s cell. Ian Ibrahim, prosecuting, said officers looked through the hatch in the door and saw the 35-year-old defendant repeatedly striking his head against the wall. When officers entered the cell to stop him harming himself White “lunged” at them.

The court heard that in the “melee” that ensued the defendant bit the upper arm of one officer, with the bite lasting for between six and 10 seconds. He also grabbed a radio from another officer and “swung” it at his face, catching him on the cheek.

Mr Ibrahim said the officer who was bitten went to Neath Port Talbot Hospital to have the wound seen to and subsequently underwent a number of blood tests and vaccinations. The barrister said it was six months before the officer received the all-clear over any possible hepatitis infection and has been left with a visible scar.

White, of Elizabeth Street, Thomastown, Tonyrefail, Rhondda Cynon Taff, admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH) and to assaulting an emergency worker. He has 22 previous convictions for 36 offences including robbery, aggravated vehicle-taking, possession of an imitation firearm, animal cruelty, arson, ABH, harassment, assaulting a police officer, possession of Class A drugs, theft and criminal damage.

Emma Harris, for White, said a psychiatric report into the defendant showed he was a “very troubled individual” with a difficult family background who had grown up in care and began misusing substances at the age of seven.

Judge Catherine Richards said the offending against public servants doing their job was so serious that only immediate custody was appropriate.

Giving the defendant credit for his guilty pleas she sentenced him to six months in prison. White will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.