The Assosicatd Press
LONDON- A British court awarded six prison officers damages and legal costs reported to be in excess of 1 million pounds (US$1.75 million, euro1.45 million) Wednesday for “walking into a scene of gothic horror” where an inmate had strangled his cellmate and then disemboweled him.
Jason Ricketts, a convicted burglar serving a five-year sentence at Cardiff Prison, strangled Colin Bloomfield, 35, to death in their cell in April 2000, cut him open and removed his liver, spleen and one eye.
The officers said they suffered “severe psychological injuries” because of what they saw. Ricketts, then 29, claimed he was commanded by “voices” to kill Bloomfield. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter, claiming diminished mental responsibility, and is serving an indefinite sentence at a psychiatric hospital in Liverpool, northwest England.
The exact amount awarded to the officers was not disclosed under a court confidentiality agreement.