A Zimbabwean jailed in the UK who threw scalding hot water over a prison officer has had a further two years added to his sentence and faces removal to Harare.
Dorchester Crown Court was told prison officer Allan Hinson was on duty at the Young Offenders Institution on Portland on November 24 last year when he learned that inmate Brian Maswaya was refusing to go back to his cell.
Maswaya, a Zimbabwean national, was concerned that he had been unable to contact his brother in his home country and that his cell had no electricity.
Prosecutor Carolyn Branford-Wood said that Hinson eventually persuaded the defendant to head back to his cell when Maswaya asked if he could go and get some water for some hot drinks from the landing below.
She said he returned a few minutes later with a bucket of hot water that he then proceeded to throw at the prison officer.
Said Branford-Wood said: “Hinson turned and saw that he was pulling back the bucket, holding the handle and swinging the bucket forward.
“He instinctively turned his back to protect his face and front and felt the contents of the bucket of hot water hit him on the back and back of the neck.”
She said Hinson pulled the nearest alarm bell and then felt more water being thrown at him, before colleagues arrived to help.
Branford-Wood told the court that Hinson had to take a month off work after suffering scalding burns to his back and the back of his neck.
Erinna Foley-Fisher, mitigating, said the 32-year-old defendant was keen to return to his homeland and had a history of mental health issues.
She added: “Maswaya doesn’t seek in any way to disown his responsibility for his actions but there were some circumstances building up to that offence.”
Judge Roger Jarvis sentenced Maswaya, who is now at HMP Bristol, to two years in prison to be served consecutively to his current sentence.
He said he hoped measures could be put in place to transport Maswaya to his home country.
Judge Jarvis told the defendant: “It is my ambition that urgent consideration be given to the application of a voluntary return scheme so you can serve the rest of this sentence in a prison in Zimbabwe.” Agencies
