A prisoner who was allegedly being bullied threw boiling water from a kettle at another inmate, a court heard.
Gavin Backhouse is currently serving time at HMP Berwyn in Wrexham for robbery and appeared in Mold Crown Court on Wednesday, May 4, after admitting assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Recorder Duncan Bould was told how the 46-year-old suffers with epilepsy and had allegedly been getting teased by inmates about this. It was stressed that no formal complaint of this to the prison exists, NorthWalesLive reports.
READ MORE: Ring doorbell murder trial: Killer claims burglar had a gun and heard someone say 'shoot him'
The prosecution, Simon Mintz, told the court how Paul Wood - another prisoner at the Wrexham facility - was "lingering" in the communal area of the prison outside cells on September 19, 2021. Mr Wood - Backhouse's alleged bully - was said to be near the room Backhouse was occupying.
Second later, CCTV cameras caught the moment that Backhouse "rushed out" of his cell and struck Mr Wood in the face with water from a kettle. The appliance was full of "very hot water", the court heard.
A prison officer witnessed this and quickly intervened by locking Backhouse inside his cell before turning his attention to the injured Mr Wood. Other prisoners on the landing also saw this attack happen, Mr Mintz said.
Mr Wood's face had "turned red" and "already started to peel" from the boiled water that came into contact with his face, the court heard. Medics cleaned the "scalds" to Mr Wood's face, which had narrowly missed his right eye.
In interview, a few weeks on from the attack, the dad-of-two claimed not to remember the incident happening due to his medication. He was shown CCTV footage and chose not to comment after that.
The court was then told by Mr Mintz about Backhouse's criminal history - which dates back as far as the 1990s. This included some matters of previous assaults.
Defending, Brian Treadwell, said that his client regretted his actions. He had reached a "breaking point" after ongoing issues amongst prisoners, he said.
The court heard how Backhouse's epilepsy proves "difficult to medicate" and, at one stage, he soiled himself during a fit in the prison. This was witnessed by others and claimed that this was "met by no compassion" which continued "for months to follow".
Mr Treadwell said that Backhouse did not alert the prison authorities to this alleged bullying due to fear of any repercussions. He said that, whilst speaking out about bullies is normally encouraged in the outside world, the intensified situation can be made "ten times worse" whilst behind bars.
Recorder Bould told Backhouse that he accepted his guilty pleas and remorse - but said his punishment options were limited. He said that the 46-year-old must serve an extra 18 months on top of his current prison sentence.
He said: "Whatever Mr Wood had said or done didn't justify what you decided to do that day. You took a kettle full of hot and scalding water and poured it onto his face.
"It is merciful that the injuries he received were not more serious. Clearly, to utilise that weapon in the way you did required some consideration as to what you intended to do."
