Hostage prison officer wins damages

Malcolm Joyce was held hostage for 20 hours

A prison officer has won damages from an inmate who held him hostage with a knife.

Marvin Pomfret and another inmate held Malcolm Joyce in an office at Castington Young Offenders' Institute in Morpeth, Northumberland, for 20 hours in November 1997.

Mr Joyce, then 35, had his throat slashed by Pomfret and was repeatedly beaten with a baseball bat and snooker cue before colleagues stormed the room and rescued him.

He tried to return to work, but retired on medical grounds in 1999, having been diagnosed as suffering post-traumatic stress disorder.

He sued Pomfret for damages and was awarded £3,500 at Liverpool County Court, in what is through to be the first case of its kind in the UK.

The father-of-two launched the legal action after learning that Pomfret had successfully sued Bolton Borough Council for £75,000 in December 2002.

Marvin Pomfret was a prisoner at Castington prison

He argued that the council's failure to take account of his behavioural difficulties resulted in him leading a life of crime.

Pomfret was given £20,000 after legal costs and spent most of the cash, leaving just £3,500 by the time Mr Joyce made his claim.

Normally, damages cases are not pursued because inmates do not have the funds to make any payment.

Mr Joyce, from Newcastle, plans to donate the cash to the Children's Cancer Unit at the city's Royal Victoria Infirmary.

After the ruling Mr Joyce said his motivation for legal action was based on principle rather than financial gain.

He said: "I was absolutely furious when I read that Pomfret had been awarded such a large amount while serving a prison sentence.

"With any award to any person serving a prison sentence, the money should go to the victim of the criminal, followed by a charity if there is any money left.

Violent inmates

"The criminal himself should receive nothing.

"If Pomfret had given the cash he won to his victims or to charity, I would never have taken this litigation."

Mr Joyce, who was a prison officer for nine years and now works in computers, said he found Pomfret to be a "manipulative" criminal who "would do anything to suit himself".

His solicitor Frank Rogers, of law firm Lees Lloyd Whitley, said the case should serve as a warning to other violent inmates.

He said: "If we are ever advised that any inmate who has assaulted a prison officer has funds outstanding to the credit of his prison account, then we will not hesitate to embark on a similar action."

A spokesman for the Prison Officers' Association said: "We are delighted that in this case compensation has been given to the victim of the crime, rather than the perpetrator.

"We hope this establishes a clear legal precedent for the future."