A prisoner at HMP Grampian threw boiling water over his cellmate in a “law of the jungle” bid to ward off a bottle attack.
Charles Sim, 39, had been remanded in custody at the Peterhead facility alongside another man who was involved in the same case.
But the cellmates clashed and Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard Sim had been assaulted by the man twice in the week before the incident and then learned a further assault was planned involving a bottle.
So when the man returned to their cell, Sim threw a kettle of boiling water over him, scalding his face and neck and leaving him screaming in agony.
Fiscal depute Ruaridh McAlister told the court: “At 4.25pm on August 16 2020, the complainer was out of the cell and on his way back to it.
‘He had evidently been scalded’
“As he approached the entrance for his cell, boiling water was thrown onto his face.
“He immediately jumped back, shouted out in pain and removed the T-shirt he was wearing.
“A prison officer who was nearby then locked the door for the cell. The accused was
the only person within it.
“Other prison officers then arrived to assist and saw that the complainer’s face and
neck were immediately very red and that he had evidently been scalded.”
The man was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary by ambulance and treated for blistering to his face, shoulder and chest.
He has been left with permanent scarring.
Sim pled guilty to a charge of assault to severe injury and permanent disfigurement.
Defence agent Tony Burgess said his client had an “unenviable record”.
‘The rule is you need to strike first to survive’
He explained Sim had been assaulted twice in the week leading up to the offence.
The solicitor went on: “On the day in question, my client received information he was going to be assaulted yet again and it was to involve the use of a bottle.
“It can be seen from the CCTV footage the complainer is carrying a bottle with liquid in it.
“The law applies equally in prison as it does outside, but there’s also the law of the jungle within the prison, where the rule is you need to strike first to survive.
“That’s exactly what happened here.”
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin ordered Sim, a prisoner of HMP Grampian, to be jailed for 39 weeks.
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