A PRISON officer was left with a swollen eye after being attacked by an inmate, a court heard.

Adam Reed, who gave his address as HMP Parc in Bridgend, appeared at Wrexham Magistrates Court via video link from the prison on Tuesday morning.

The 25-year-old admitted that on June 24, he assaulted prison officer Thomas Petty at HMP Berwyn, by beating him.

Prosecutor Rhian Jackson told the court that on the day in question, there was an incident at a medication hatch in the Wrexham prison, where Reed was serving a sentence at the time.

Officer Petty approached and spotted Reed, whom he knew to have a background of violent behaviour towards inmates and officers.

The officer's presence appeared to be agitating the defendant, so he stepped away and allowed a colleague to continue de-escalating the situation.

Once the incident had calmed down and Officer Petty began to leave, Reed pushed past him and told him: "Get the f*** out of my way."

Concerned about his behaviour, the officer ordered Reed to return to his cell, and when he failed to comply he decided the only way to resolve the matter would be to restrain him and put him in the cell.

When enough colleagues had arrived and he felt comfortable with the level of support around him, Officer Petty took control of the defendant's head - expecting colleagues to restrain his arms.

But they 'failed' to do that.

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It resulted in Officer Petty being struck to the face by Reed, with his right eye swelling immediately.

Reed was interviewed afterwards and did not show remorse. In fact, he seemed "proud" of his actions.

Defending himself at the hearing, Reed was asked whether he wanted to tell the court anything about the offence.

The Leader:

"Nothing," he answered.

District Judge Gwyn Jones handed down a 26 week custodial term to run concurrent to the defendant's ongoing prison time.

Reed said: "Alright, f****** hell," before walking out of the room.

"Charming," the Judge concluded.