A prisoner who was attacked in his cell eventually lost his eye after a convicted murderer stabbed him with a razor.
Derek Paul Palace was on remand and awaiting trial for the murder of a man when he carried out the horrific attack on Christmas Eve 2018.
The 39-year-old man armed himself with a razor in his clenched fist before attacking the victim, who was being held by another prisoner. The attack was so brutal that the victim later had to have his eye removed.
Palace in Durham subsequently received a life sentence of at least 26 years for stabbing Peter Gilling to death in Billingham on September 29, 2018, after he was found guilty after a trial, reports Teesside Live.
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Palace appeared in Durham court on Tuesday via HMP Full Sutton to be convicted of causing grievous bodily harm by willful misconduct, Chronicle Live reported.
Judge James Adkin, of the Durham Registry, said Palace was in custody at HMP Durham while awaiting trial for Mr Gilling’s murder when the incident occurred.
He said the victim was told he was wanted in a cell by another prisoner – who was also being tried by the court for involvement in the attack.
Then Palace, who had a razor in his fist, attacked the man and “hit him in the eye.”
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Judge Adkin said the victim should have had his left eye removed after a “targeted attack” on Prison Wing C, which he described as a “blow”.
He added that the injury “changed the life” of the victim.
In a statement from the victim, the man said the attack “changed my life forever” and said he was “afraid something will happen” after a number of threats before.
He said that after the operation, the loss of his eye affected his peripheral vision and a glass eye was placed on him, which made him feel numb.
However, the glass eye was uncomfortable and “irritating”, so he resorted to its removal.
Defending himself, John Brown said Palace continued to deny the crime.
He said: “He still claims that there was never an accident with the blades and it was a blow. The courts found that it was a blade tool, he did not accept the court’s finding and still denied it.
He admits that there was an eye injury that the man lost. Mr Brown asked the judge to hand down a simultaneous sentence, as the Palace is currently serving a life sentence for murder.
Judge Adkin sentenced Palace to 11 years in prison, which will be consistent with the life sentence he is currently serving.
Palace was convicted of murder in 2019 after stabbing Mr Gilling, 39, five times in front of the Melsonby Court apartments in Billingham at 12.24pm on 29 September 2018.
He cut off Mr. Gilling’s left leg, severed his femoral artery, and left him bleeding to death.
This was not the first time Palace had been convicted of murder.
Palace’s criminal past included a four-and-a-half-year sentence in 2004 for causing death by dangerous driving.
Palace was convicted nearly 20 years ago after leaving motorcycle mother Leslie Lawrence dead in a high-speed crash.
The killer – who had never taken a test and had six previous driving convictions while disqualified – lost control when he tried to make his way abruptly on an A19 sliding road near Washington at speeds of up to 80 miles per hour.
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