Leeds prison officer feared he would die when double killer attacked, court told

Inmate David Powell - who has two separate convictions for one-punch manslaughter in Leeds - attacked the officer after he took a TV out of his cell at the jail in Armley, Leeds Crown Court was told.

The officers suffered a neck injury during the incident in March 2019.

Prosecutor, Tim Savage, said Powell, 33, accused the officer of removing personal items along with the TV during a cell search.

Mr Savage said Powell took hold of the officer and "body charged him" against a wall.

there was a struggle before a second officer arrived and Powell was subdued.

The prison officer suffered a swollen and bruised neck.

Mr Savage said the officer wrote a victim personal statement: "I genuinely thought I was going to die at that time.

"I was terrified. I'm 6ft 2in and medium build and I could not get him off me. I'm fearful that I will be attacked again."

Keith Allen, mitigating, said Powell had just been transferred to the wing and knew he was on a basic regime and was not objecting to the TV being taken out of his cell.

Mr Allen said Powell, who admitted assault, was concerned about his few personal possessions in the cell.

Mr Allen said Powell suffers from anxiety and his medication had been interrupted due to the move.

Judge Simon Phillips QC sentenced Powell to a four month prison sentence to run concurrently with the 14-year sentence he is serving.

In February 2015, a Leeds Crown Court judge jailed Powell for ten years with a four year extended licence after a jury convicted him of the manslaughter of 37-year-old Gerard Adeshida on Ladypit Lane in Beeston.

Powell, previously of Clovelly Grove, Beeston, punched Mr Adeshida in the jaw on Ladypit Lane just after 6pm on August 23 2014

Mr Adeshida fell back and hit his head on the road, causing a skull fracture and fatal brain injury.

Powell had previously served a three-and-a-half-year sentence for manslaughter for a fatal attack on a man in 2004.

Powell, then aged 17, laid in wait for Kelvin Jukes, 26, as he left a shop in Trentham Street, Beeston, Leeds, after an earlier confrontation during which the older man hit him.

Mr Jukes, who had been drinking, tried to run away but Powell caught him and punched him, causing injuries to his left cheek and right eye.

He fell and suffered the fatal head injury, including bleeding around the brain.