Inmate spat in Frankland guard’s face while shouting he had Aids

Martin Marland, who has a history of attacking prison officers, kicked off when the prison authorities decided to change his cell and he lashed out when officers tried to move him.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the 34-year-old refused to comply with the officers and became aggressive and threatened to end the life of an officer.

Daniel Ingham, prosecuting, said the defendant threatened the second officer after he gave a statement following the first incident on March 20 last year.

Dealing with the first incident, he said: “He has turned to a prison officer and said – ‘I will cut your throat and end your life’ while looking directly at him.”

The officer believed the defendant was capable of carrying out the threat as he had previously been found with a weapon while a serving prisoner in Manchester.

Turning to the second incident, Mr Ingham said on June 2 the defendant threatened to stab a second officer after he gave a statement to prison authorities about the first incident.

He said: “The defendant told the officer ‘he was not a real man as he had grassed on him’ and that he would stab him up.

“As he walked away, the defendant spat it him, it landed on the side of his face and back of his head. The defendant then shouted he had Aids and hepatitis.”

HMP Frankland in Durham (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Marland, who was serving his sentence in Durham’s HMP Frankland, pleaded guilty to two charges of making threats to kill and one count of assaulting an emergency worker on June 2 last year.

Gurjot Kaur, mitigating, said her client claimed that the officers were the aggressors and he acted in self-defence before making the threat to kill as he was upset about the injury he suffered.

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Dealing with the second incident, the defendant believed he was being deliberately provoking him but accepts making the threats to kill and spitting at the officer.

Recorder Andrew Dallas sentenced Marland to a further 15 months in custody which will start at the end of his current sentence ends.

“This is a very serious matter, it obviously crosses the custody threshold,” he said.

“I do accept that neither of the offences happened over a protracted period.”