Convicted arsonist has jail term increased after razor blade attack at Featherstone prison

Mark Warriner slashed Stephen Griffiths's neck with the improvised weapon, narrowly missing a main artery, Stafford Crown Court was told.

The violence erupted following a simmering row between the two convicts at the prison, near Wolverhampton, the court heard.

Mr Robert Edwards, prosecuting, said there had been a clash between the pair on February 24 last year and exchanges of words on the followings days.

On February 28, however, Griffiths was on the landing waiting to go to lunch when Warriner stole up behind him.

At first, Griffiths thought he had been scratched on the neck, but he had been slashed with a blade taken from a disposable razor, the court was told.

CCTV cameras recorded the incident - and Warriner was seen putting something in to a waste bin following the attack. The blade was later recovered from the bin by prison officers, said Mr Edwards.

Warriner, aged 47, from Derby admitted a charge of unlawfully wounding Griffiths.

Sentencing him Recorder Mr Justin Wigoder (corr) told him: "There was no doubt this was premeditated. This is as bad an allegation of wounding as it gets.

"It is a complete matter of luck that the blade missed an artery, which it did by about an inch."

Mr Edwards said the wound was treated by the prison nurse with steri-strips. In a victim impact statement Griffiths said he now feels scared to come out of his cell and has been suffering from panic attacks.

The court heard that Warriner is serving a five and a half year sentence imposed at Derby Crown Court in June 2012 for arson. The judge ordered that the three years for wounding should run consecutively.

Miss Theresa Hunt, defending, told the court that Warriner had been seriously bullied whilst inside, including allegedly being raped on Christmas Day. "He feels under attack from all angles in this environment. He has no connections with family members or friends," she added.

The court hearing follows the publication of report which highlighted a number of issues at the prison including vandalised cells, widespread drug use, bullying and violent prisoners.

The Independent Monitoring Board report on the jail, published last month, said a lack of staff was having a serious impact as Featherstone is one of a number of jails in the West Midlands to be blighted by staff shortages.