Prisoner shouted 'Die you nonce' as he tried to strangle sex offender in Leeds prison cell

A PRISONER tried to murder a fellow sex offender by strangling him with a ripped bed sheet in their cell at Armley jail.
Daniel StewartDaniel Stewart
Daniel Stewart

IN COURT: Leeds primary school headteacher in custody charged with child sex offencesDaniel Stewart shouted "die you nonce" as the victim gasped for breath and began to lose consciousness.

Leeds Crown Court heard the victim managed to fight Stewart off in a last ditch struggle as he believe he only had seconds left to live.

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Stewart, 21, was given a nine year sentence after pleading guilty to attempted murder.

Sophie Drake, prosecuting, said the incident happened shortly before midnight on February 25 this year at the prison in Leeds.

The prosecutor said Stewart was serving a 26 week sentence at the time for breaching a sexual harm prevention order.

The victim was serving a sentence for possession of indecent images of children.

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Miss Drake said the victim had been placed in Stewart's cell two days before the incident and they had initially got on well together.

The court heard Stewart took the drug spice in front of him and consensual sexual activity took place between them in the cell.

The attack happened when the victim, who cannot be identified, began telling Stewart about the impact of his offending on his parents.

Stewart asked the victim if he could give him a cuddle and got in bed beside him.

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Describing the attack, Miss Drake said: "The defendant took a piece of ripped bedding and put it around his neck and started to strangle him from behind.

"(The victim) thought he was dying. He had pain in his eyes and his vision was blurred.

"He could feel himself stopping breathing."

The inmate managed to turn around and push Stewart off before pressing the cell panic button.

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Stewart then told the victim he "needed help or needed to die."

He punched him and threatened to pour boiling water over him before prison officers arrived.

Miss Drake said Stewart later boasted to prison staff that he intended to kill the victim.

Keith Allen, mitigating, said Stewart pleaded guilty to the offence at an early stage.

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Mr Allen said Stewart had a history of depression and problems with drugs and alcohol.

Jailing Stewart, judge Guy Kearl, QC, said: "There is little doubt that (the victim) thought he was dying."

After the case, Detective Inspector David Roberts, who heads the Leeds District Prison Investigation Team, said: “We have specialist detectives who work closely with the prison authorities to ensure that offences such as this are fully investigated and the offenders brought to justice.

“Violence in prisons is just as unacceptable as it is outside in society and we hope that the significant sentence Stewart has received will serve to remind others of the additional penalties they can attract if they commit further offences in prison.”

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