A convicted killer brutally beat up a female prison officer as she screamed desperately for help, a court heard.
Violent lifer James Demarco carried out the terrifying attack on Roseanne Bell in privately run Addiewell prison, West Lothian, before throwing pool balls at her and another female guard.
Livingston Sheriff Court was told that the 32-year-old murderer had been confined to his room in the jail’s Forth Bravo wing as a result of a Covid lockdown prior to the incident.
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The two female officers tasked with guarding him had gone to his cell at around 11.45am to ask for them his plate so they could fetch him lunch.
Demarco refused to hand the crockery over to prison officer Jessica Scott and, when it was suggested that he was under the influence of something, he demanded: “Who do you think you are telling me that?”
Roshni Joshi, prosecuting, said Demarco then moved forward into Ms Scott’s personal space causing her to attempt an unsuccessful “pre-emptive strike” to push him back.
The depute fiscal said: “She informed him that she’d speak to the prison nurses in order to have him assessed.
“On hearing this the accused barged past the witness, using his arm to push her against the wall, and made his way towards witness Bell.
“Witness Bell reached for her panic alarm to summon assistance but the accused suddenly punched her to the face three or four times knocking her to the floor with the force of his blows.
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“Witness Scott observed the accused standing over witness Bell and tried to pull him away but was unsuccessful.
“The accused was still trying to punch witness Bell who was screaming: ‘Someone help me! Someone please help me!’
Ms Joshi said another prisoner tried to push the accused off the prison officer on the ground causing him to stop and leave the area briefly.
Meanwhile Ms Scott pulled Ms Bell to her feet and led her to a secure door.
The fiscal went on: “On looking back they saw the accused walking at pace back towards them with his hands full of pool balls.
“The accused then began throwing the balls, deliberately aiming at Ms Scott but the officers managed to exit the wing and retreat to a safe distance before other officers detained the accused.”
She said hospital doctors had prescribed painkillers for an injury to Ms Bell’s left jaw which left her unable to close her mouth properly or eat solid foods for over a week.
Demarco, who has since been moved to Kilmarnock prison, pled guilty on indictment via a video link on Monday to assaulting prison officer Bell to her injury by repeatedly punching her and trying to strike her with pool balls.
He also admitted assaulting prison officer Scott by pushing her on the body and trying to strike her with pool balls.
His not guilty pleas to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner and having the pool balls as offensive weapons during the incident on 1 June 2021 were accepted by the Crown.
Gillian Law, defending, said prison lockdown had been especially difficult for her client because of the lack of contact with his extended family and the fact the 15 year punishment part of his life sentence was coming to an end.
She said: “He had been using substances while in custody to cope with some of the mental health difficulties he had. He was struggling to cope.
“This matter was, of course, reflected in internal punishment by the prison. He spent six months in isolation which, on any view, within the prison setting is a significant punishment.”
Sheriff Douglas Kinlcoh sentenced Demarco to a further 12 months in prison, to be served at the end of his current sentences.
He told the accused: “I see that you must have been about 18 when you received a sentence of life imprisonment at Edinburgh High Court on a charge of murder with a minimum period to be served of 15 years.
“Since then unfortunately you’ve gone on to commit other violent offences while in prison and you’ve received a number of prison sentences, none of which seem to have deterred you from violent behaviour.”
He added: “I have to restrict the sentence because I’m told it will be another 10 years or so before you are release, but it will be consecutive and it will affect you ultimately.”
Demarco, formerly of Pilton, Edinburgh, was actually 17 when he knifed Army recruit Jamie Ewart, 18, to death at a house party in Edinburgh in 2006.
He severed three vital organs in Jamie’s neck with a single blow from a blade.
Demarco had earlier been bailed for three violent crimes – including a knife attack in which his victim lost an eye and another attack in which a dog was set on a police officer.
He was later given an extra 45 months in prison for ordering a machete ‘hit’ from his cell during which he listened to the victim’s screams on a phone.
Demarco, then 18, called James Paxton from Saughton prison and told him to "stab f*** out" of someone called "G".
However, Paxton attacked the wrong person because the victim shared the nickname with another man who had gone out with an ex-girlfriend of Demarco.
In July last year he admitted biting custody officer Colin Latta on the bicep, causing an open wound which needed hospital treatment. That earned him a further nine month sentence running concurrently with his life sentence.
