AN INMATE at the Portland Young Offenders Institution has had a year added to his sentence after knocking out a prison officer with a punch to the face.

Prison officer Karl Elsworth was left with a fractured cheekbone following the attack on May 23.

Damien Mitchell, 19, appeared at Dorchester Crown Court to be sentenced after admitting a charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Jennie Rickman, prosecuting, told the court that Mr Elsworth had been having difficulties with the inmate over cleaning work that Mitchell had been asked to carry out.

She said in response Mr Elsworth was leading Mitchell back to his cell at the moment the attack occurred.

Miss Rickman said: “Mr Elsworth was punched hard to the face. It was a very hard punch, which caused him to fall against the landing railings and he woke up on the landing floor.

“He regained consciousness and found the defendant now being restrained by two other prison officers and at that stage he was removed from the wing.”

Miss Rickman said Mr Elsworth was left with a bleeding nose and pain on the left side of the face immediately after the incident.

He was taken to hospital and a fracture to his left cheekbone was discovered.

Miss Rickman said Mitchell, who had 12 previous convictions covering 31 offences, was serving a four-year custodial sentence imposed in July last year for attempted robbery and other offences.

Nigel Mitchell, mitigating, said his client was ‘ashamed’ by his actions in attacking Mr Elsworth. He said: “He is very ashamed of himself because he says this prison officer is a nice chap, it’s just they had an argument.

“It was just one punch, unfortunately a very hard one and an unlucky one from Mr Elsworth’s point of view because he sustained a fracture.”

Mr Mitchell added: “He realises that he has got to keep that temper under control.”

Judge Roger Jarvis sentenced Mitchell to a year in custody, which will be served consecutively to the term he is currently serving.

The judge told the defendant: “You have made admissions to what is a very serious matter. What you did was inexcusable.”

Following the sentence hearing a spokesman for the YOI said: “Assaults on prison staff are taken very seriously and following this incident a joint police and prison investigation was commissioned