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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Nick Tyrrell

Paedophiles and killers among those attacked in our prisons

An attack on notorious Liverpool gangster Richard Caswell has shone a spotlight on attacks in prisons.

Caswell, who helped place a number of car bombs around Liverpool in 2003 and 2004, was attacked in HMP Manchester earlier this year,

Yet the incident is just the latest attack, with assaults within prisons long a feature of life behind bars.

READ MORE: Woman still fighting for her life after being hit by a car

While many attacks are more minor in nature, some have seen serious injuries inflicted on prisoners.

Back in 2019, one such attack saw a dad-of-one leave a paedophile with a 15cm wound across his cheek

Daniel Andrews attacked Jordan Murray on the medical wing in December 2019.

He used his razor to slice Murray's cheek just moments after Murray had revealed he had convictions for sexual offences against children.

When asked why he carried out the attack, Andrews told a prison officer: "He's got two victims, think of them."

Addressing a judge after admitting wounding with intent, the 28-year-old said he was "deeply ashamed" of his actions.

He said: "I just want to say that I am genuinely deeply ashamed of what I have done and I am very sorry to Jordan and his family for putting him through what I put him through."

Another razer blade attack earlier in 2019 also made the headlines.

Mark Fellows, the gangland hitman who murdered Paul Massey and John Kinsella was subject to an attack earlier that year.

Fellows, 38, was airlifted to hospital after being slashed with what was believed to be a weapon made from a razor blade at Whitemoor Category A maximum security prison in Cambridgeshire.

At the time, officers said Fellows wounds were “serious, but not life threatening” and that he was returned to custody after a short period being treated in hospital.

It later emerged that Kieran Blair , a member of a notorious gang that brought mayhem to the streets of south Liverpool and Knowsley, attacked Fellows with a shank .

Finally, two killers both had to be moved after assaults on them in prisons last year.

Karl Corson and Connah Jenkinson were both convicted of different murders and later attacked by fellow inmates wielding blades.

Corson was one of four men convicted of the murder of Stephen Maguire, who was shot dead in Southport in March 2020.

The 28-year-old, of Columbine Close in Melling, was jailed for life with a minimum of 33 years.

The court was later made aware that while awaiting trial Corson was slashed in the face, leaving him with a scar on his cheek.

The same year, Jenkinson was convicted of the murder of 48-year-old Robert Beattie who was doused in petrol and set alight on the doorstep of his Skelmersdale home.

He was then slashed in the neck with a razor at HMP Preston before being convicted of murder.

During his trial his barrister, Anthony Berry, QC, applied for him to be moved to a Merseyside jail during the trial rather than be returned to Preston. He had been moved to Durham after the attack.

Mr Berry said inmates at HMP Preston were "apathetic" to those from Liverpool and said: "He was in Preston earlier this year in custody. He was slashed in his neck with an implement that had a razor attached to it... He feels unsafe, in particular now because the case has been reported on a lot."

In the case of Corson and Jenkinson, jurors in both cases were not told about the attacks during the trial.

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