A sadistic mother whose baby son died after his ribs, shoulder bones and wrist were broken in an horrific series of child abuse that had echoes of the Baby P case, was battered black and blue by fellow prisoners in a women only jail.
Inmates at HMP Send, in Surrey, ambushed 29-year-old Claire Biggs in the prison gardens and subjected her to a violent punishment, beating after hurling missiles at her, Guildford Crown Court was told.
Miss Biggs, of Greengate Street, Plaistow, had to be rushed to hospital bleeding from a head wound and bruises on her body after she was attacked by a metal bar in the garden of the women-only jail, it was revealed.
One of the attackers Kathleen Buckland, 37, a traveller, was jailed for 12 months after pleading guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm.
Sentencing her, Judge Christopher Critchlow said: “People in prison cannot take the law into their own hands.”
A second woman Katie Burston, 25, from Paignton, Devon, also pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm. She will be sentenced at a later date.
A third woman, Samantha Walters, 27, from Bridgewater, denied the charge - and she was formally acquitted after the prosecution decided to offer no evidence against her.
Evil mother Claire Biggs was jailed back in 2009 for a horrific campaign of cruelty against her helpless son, little Rhys, just two months old, who died hours after the last attack. [...]
Hated
[...] The court was told that Miss Biggs, now 30, was hated by other jailbirds because of her crimes against her eight-week-old son Rhys, for which she had been sent to prison for eight years, reduced to seven years on appeal.
Joseph Templeton, prosecuting, said: “She was unpopular in prison because of the nature of her conviction.”
On the day of the attack, last year, she and another disliked inmate Dawn Gregory were put on a gardening project, to the fury of other prisoners.
“Both Miss Biggs and Ms Gregory were somewhat isolated,” said Mr Templeton.
Mr Templeton said that during the course of their duties, Miss Biggs and Ms Gregory had to go to a shed – but found themselves unable to get out after coming under siege from other inmates.
“Things were thrown at the shed,” he said.
Then a group of prisoners armed with gardening tools advanced on the two victims.
“Miss Biggs was attacked with these implements. At least three women, including Buckland, were involved in the assault,” said Mr Templeton.
He said: “Ms Gregory went to Miss Biggs’s assistance. She was also injured and lost her glasses in the melee.”
Mr Templeton said Miss Biggs had to be taken to hospital after suffering a cut nearly five centimetres long on her forehead plus bruising to the back of her head and other parts of her body.
Injuries
In a victim impact statement,
the injured woman said: “My injuries took a week to heal.”
Miss Biggs said she had been left feeling extremely nervous and had to be accompanied everywhere either by a friendly inmate or a prison officer.
Sentencing Buckland, Judge Critchlow told her: “You and others decided that they would use violence because of the offences for which you knew she was in prison. You didn’t like her personality.”
But he said that because Buckland would serve only half her 12-month sentence, it would not affect her release date in November.
Reply With Quote
10 Member(s) thanked for this post
Originally Posted by sherrz
1 Member(s) liked this post
Bookmarks