Hull prison officer jailed for attack on inmate

A Hull prison officer has been jailed after he punched a prisoner so hard that he broke his own hand.

Jack Kerrison, 27, hit the inmate in an unprovoked attack which left the man in hospital with a cut to the top of his head in June 2021.

He then tried to persuade other prison officers to cover for him and "concocted" a fake story he wanted them to follow.

Kerrison admitted assaulting the prisoner, causing actual bodily harm, when he appeared at Hull Crown Court. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

The inmate, who had enhanced status because of his good behaviour and cared for elderly and disabled prisoners, was sitting in his cell when Kerrison entered and accused him of being a "cheeky little c***". Kerrison then repeatedly hit the man with both fists.

The victim curled up on the floor to protect himself, the court heard.

Kerrison was then seen shaking his hand as if it hurt and was found to have fractured a bone, which needed hospital treatment.

After the attack, Kerrison told colleagues: "We need to come up with a story and stick to it. If you stick to the story, I'll owe you."

He later telephoned another prison officer telling him to keep to the story and contacted him on Facebook asking him to "stick to what I said".

Charlotte Baines, prosecuting, said: "The inmate could not comprehend why an officer had carried out an unprovoked attack on him when he had not done anything wrong.

"Since the attack, he has thought about it every day. He feels constantly on edge. This was a persistent assault.

"It was an abuse of power and a position of trust, as well as an attempt to cover the assault up and recruit others to lie for him."

Kerrison lied to two senior prison officers and continued to give a false story during police interview - denying any physical contact with the prisoner.

Ismael Uddin, mitigating, said Kerrison had suffered a momentary loss of control and then lied because he was a "rabbit in headlights".

However, the judge Recorder Gurdial Singh told Kerrison: "Your good character doesn't save you. You went well beyond.

"There was no justification. You carried out an unlawful assault."

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