A man unhappy at being moved from a prison in England to one in Wales punched and spat at prison workers in a series of unprovoked attacks. Ahmed Elgamodi was serving a 40-month sentence at HM Prison Parc in Bridgend when he assaulted two officers and a nurse on three separate occasions, leaving one with a black eye.
Elgamodi, who moved to the UK from Libya as a child, appeared at Cardiff Crown Court for sentencing on Tuesday, June 21 having previously attended a trial hearing in April after pleading not guilty to one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of assaulting an emergency worker. Sentencing the 26-year-old, a judge told him he had "no motivation" to change his behaviour having had a "significant" history of offending.
The court heard that the first of Elgamodi's three assaults took place on November 28 2020, when he was moved from his cell in HM Prison Parc after being suspected of starting a fire in it. Get the latest news from courts across Wales by signing up to our Crime and Punishment newsletter.
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Julia Cox, prosecuting, told the court that as he was being moved from the cell, Elgamodi punched the attending prison officer in the face. While there was a single punch thrown, there was also "active resistance," while the officer suffered a black eye and swelling to his face, which led to him having to take time off work.
Less than a month later, on Christmas Eve, Elgamodi was visited in his cell by a nurse who worked in the prison and another officer. As the nurse, Lucy Malkay, walked over to him to give him his medication, he spat in her face and into her eye. Ms Cox added that Ms Malkay "felt very angry at being spat at" and had to attend hospital on Christmas Day as a result of the incident as she was tested for communicable diseases.
Finally, on February 16 last year, the HM Prison Parc inmate was again being moved to another cell by prison officer Stephen Francis. After Mr Francis had patted him down, the defendant then "set upon him" while his back was turned and punched him in the back of the head. Like his other offences, the incident was caught on CCTV inside the prison.
The court also heard that Elgamodi had moved from Libya with his family in 2006 to join his father in Manchester where he worked. The defendant has a "significant" history of offending, with offences including threatening behaviour, battery and sexual assault. At the time of his offences at HMP Prison Parc, he was serving 40 months for robbery having been sentenced at Chester Crown Court and later moved to the prison from one in Manchester.
Elgamodi appeared at Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday with no legal representation, as he had done during his trial in April. In his sentencing remarks, Recorder Mark Powell QC said that the court had been "very concerned" by his lack of representation, with the defendant also providing no challenges to the prosecution's evidence throughout the trial.
"Initially you refused to be represented, so you appeared in court unrepresented," Recorder Powell said. "You pleaded not guilty to the three charges. The court was concerned about this because these are important matters and they thought you should be represented.
"You did attend court with a barrister but this barrister told me for professional reasons he could not represent you. I adjourned the trial until the next day so you could find representation, but you did not. It is your right to question the crown's evidence but you didn't ask any questions at all during the whole trial."
He added: "The jury in the trial were eventually shown CCTV videos of these incidents and I was shown these videos too. It was abundantly clear that you had no defence to these charges."
Elgamodi was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for the lead offence of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. For the assault of Ms. Malkay he was sentenced to nine months imprisonment, which he was serve consecutively, while he was also given a concurrent sentence of six months imprisonment for the assault of Mr Francis. In total, the sentence he will serve is one of 24 months, of which he will serve half in prison.
Sentencing Elgamodi, Record Powell said: " On November 28, you were being moved from a cell as it was suspected you had started a fire. As you were being moved, you punched a prison officer in the face. He suffered a black eye and swelling to the face, which led to him having to take time off work.
"On Christmas Eve, you were visited by a prison officer and a prison nurse in your cell. As she was giving you your medication, you spat in her face, into her eye. This was at a time when Covid was very much in public focus. This was a very serious assault indeed. You had no reason to spit at this young lady. Whether she was afraid of Covid or not, there are numerous other illnesses she could have contracted.
"On February 16 2021, you were again being moved to another cell by another prison officer, Stephen Francis. He patted you down before he turned his back and you punched him in the back of the neck. You were angry as you had been moved from a prison in the north of England to Wales and you did not think it was fair."
"You have a significant history of offending. I believe you are at high risk of reoffending and high risk of sexual reoffending. You have no insight into your behaviour and no motivation to change it."
South Wales Police were unable to provide a custody photograph of the defendant.
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