An inmate lost an eye after a convicted murderer attacked him with a razor blade inside a prison cell. Derek Paul Pallas was awaiting the start of his murder trial when he carried out the gruesome attack on Christmas Eve in 2018.
The victim was held down by another HMP Durham prisoner while Pallas, 39, attacked him with a razor blade which he held inside his clenched fist. The victim had to have his eye removed following the gruesome assault, Chronicle Live reports.
Pallas was on remand when he carried out the attack and was later handed a life sentence for stabbing a man to death in Teeside after being found guilty following his trial. On Tuesday, May 3, Pallas appeared at Durham Crown Court via a videolink from HMP Full Sutton to be sentenced for the prison attack.
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Pallas, of Sycamore Park, Brandon, Durham, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for causing grievous bodily harm with intent. The sentence will run consecutively to the life sentence he is currently serving.
Judge James Adkin, the Recorder of Durham, said Pallas was on remand at HMP Durham while awaiting trial for Peter Gilling's murder when the incident occurred. He told the court that the victim was asked to come into the cell by another inmate. Pallas armed himself with a razor blade in his fist and "struck him in the eye", the court heard.
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."
