A prisoner who was attacked in his cell ended up losing an eye after a convicted murderer stabbed him with a razor blade.
Derek Paul Pallas was on remand and awaiting the beginning of his court trial for killing a man when he carried out the horrific attack on Christmas Eve, 2018.
The 39-year-old armed himself with a razor blade inside his clenched fist before attacking the victim, who was being held down by another prisoner. The attack was so violent, the victim later had to have an eye removed.
Pallas, from Durham was subsequently given a life sentence with a minimum of 26 years for stabbing Peter Gilling to death in Billingham on September 29, 2018, after being found guilty following a trial, report Teesside Live.
On Tuesday, Pallas appeared at Durham Crown Court, via link from HMP Full Sutton, to be sentenced for the causing grievous bodily harm with intent incident, reports Chronicle Live.
Judge James Adkin, the Recorder of Durham, said Pallas was on remand at HMP Durham while awaiting trial for Mr Gilling’s murder when the incident occurred.
He said the victim was told he was wanted in a cell by another inmate - who has also been dealt with by the courts for being involved in the attack.
It was then that Pallas, who had a razor blade in his fist, attacked the man and “struck him in the eye”.
Judge Adkin said the victim had to have his left eye removed following the “targeted attack” in the prison’s C Wing, which he described as “a hit”.
He added the injury was “life changing” for the victim.
In a victim statement, the man said the attack “changed my life forever” and said he was “fearful something was going to happen” following a number of threats beforehand.
He said after his surgery, the loss of his eye has impacted his peripheral vision and he was given a glass eye, which made him feel self-conscious.
However, the glass eye was uncomfortable and “irritated” him, so he resorted to removing it.
John Brown, defending, said Pallas continues to deny the offence.
He said: “He still maintains it was never a bladed incident and was a punch. The courts found it was a bladed instrument, he doesn’t accept the finding of the court and is still in denial.
He accepts there was an injury to the eye, which the man lost.” Mr Brown asked the judge to pass a concurrent sentence as Pallas is currently serving a life sentence for murder.
Judge Adkin sentenced Pallas to 11 years in prison, which will run consecutively to the life sentence he is currently serving.
Pallas was convicted of murder in 2019 after stabbing Mr Gilling, 39, five times outside the Melsonby Court flats in Billingham at 12.24am on September 29 2018.
He cut Mr Gilling’s left leg, severing his femoral artery, and left him to bleed to death.
It was not the first time Pallas had been convicted of a killing.
Pallas’ criminal past included a four-and-a-half year sentence in 2004 for causing death by dangerous driving.
Pallas was convicted almost 20 years ago after leaving motorbike mum Leslie Lawrence dead in a hit-and-run high-speed crash.
The killer - who had never sat a test and had six previous convictions for driving while disqualified - lost control when he tried to steer suddenly on to a slip-road on the A19 near Washington at up to 80mph.
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