Sentence extended for prisoner who attacked two fellow inmates

Wednesday 21 August 2024

A 21-year-old prisoner who attacked two fellow inmates in separate incidents – causing one of them to have a seizure – has had three years added to his custodial sentence.

Aaron Charles Dodd was 20 years old and already serving a three-year sentence at HMP La Moye for drugs offences when he assaulted his first victim.

In the first attack, Dodd smashed a fellow prisoner over the head with a broken ceramic plate.

Prison officers described how there was “lots of blood” coming from the victim's face.

The man had cuts to the front of his ear and to his back, and the wound to his face needed stitches.

Crown Advocate Lauren Taylor, prosecuting, said the use of a broken plate as a weapon was equivalent to a broken bottle or glass.

In an interview following the attack, Dodd said that he and the victim had had a fight, adding: “It happens in prison.”

Measures were then put in place to keep Dodd and the victim separate from one another, the Royal Court heard.

In the second incident, Dodd repeatedly punched another man in the face until he fell to the ground and had a seizure.

During meal time, Dodd attacked his second victim and knocked him to the ground.

Dodd repeatedly punching the man in the face until his nose and eye socket fractured.

The victim had a seizure and suffered “huge bruising” and a 5cm cut to the back of his head during the attack. 

Dodd said in interview that he was “anxious” because he heard rumours that he was going to be attacked.

Both victims were taken to the Hospital, but neither suffered lasting injuries.

Dodd spoke in court, offering an apology to the victims, their families, as well as to prison staff.

He said: “I wish more than anything I could go back and change things, and I will always look back at this part of my life with regret and embarrassment.”

Dodd explained that he had since been working in the prison servery, where inmates collect their food, and had held meetings with the prison governor to try to tackle food waste.

He added that he had put his name down for the prison council and taken part in various activities.

Dodd said: “I will never step in a courtroom again for the wrong reasons.”

Advocate Chris Baglin, defending, also highlighted letters from Dodd in which he promised to better himself.

He pointed to the fact that the defendant had been held in a segregated cell, describing “difficult conditions” whereby Dodd was confined to his room for 23 or 24 hours a day.

Dodd was given a three-year sentence for the first grave and criminal assault, and a one-and-a-half year sentence for the second, to run concurrently.

Due to his age at the time of the attacks, he was sentenced as though he was a young offender.

The Bailiff, Sir Timothy Le Cocq, said the court had been “merciful” towards Dodd.

He warned: “You must take every opportunity offered to you in prison to address your offending and improve your circumstances in life so that you are never before us again.”

The Jurats sitting were Elizabeth Dulake, Steven Austin-Vautier, Gareth Hughes, Michael Entwistle and Michael Berry.