Inmate sentenced for throwing poo at prison officer

A prisoner who threw a cup of faeces over a prison officer in revenge for losing his job in the jail's servery has been sentenced.

Courtney Matthew, 34, claimed the substance thrown at Parc Prison in Bridgend was melted Maltesers and water, bought from the prison shop.

He has been sentenced to two years and nine months in prison after a jury at Cardiff Crown Court last month found him guilty of administering a noxious substance with intent to aggrieve or annoy, contrary to the 1861 Offences against the Person Act.

Matthew, who is serving a sentence at HMP Swaledale on Isle of Sheppey, Kent, refused to attend the trial or the sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court.

Sentencing him, Judge Vanessa Francis said: "It was planned because the liquid had strong smell, it was purposely combined together and left to brew or stand reaching peak of unpleasantness before it was thrown."

Judge Francis said Matthew's behaviour was designed to maximise the humiliation and upset caused to prison officer David Ashby.

The court heard Mr Ashby was conducting a routine roll call of prisoners when he was attacked in May 2023.

Pouring excrement over an individual is known in prisons as "potting".

Other prisoners warned Mr Ashby he was likely to be assaulted by Matthew.

As Mr Ashby walked up a flight of stairs, Matthew threw a cup containing the substance which hit his chest and face. The incident was captured on prison CCTV.

Matthew then jumped over the railings and on to safety netting before being detained by prison officers.

At the time of the attack, Matthew was serving extended sentence at Parc Prison of 11 years sentence for robbery.

The court was told he he has 29 convictions for 74 offences including robbery, burglary, battery and assaulting an emergency worker.

The sentence will run concurrently.

In a victim impact statement, Mr Ashby said he had scrubbed himself until it hurt, but it was difficult to get the smell out of his nose.

He said he did not feel clean and he was worried that he or his family might contract an infection as a result of the attack.

He went to the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend to be assessed.

He said he was embarrassed and felt self-conscious and he had hoped no one thought he had soiled himself.