'Zombie' Spice user poured boiling 'sugar water' on sleeping prisoner's face in callous jail attack

A prisoner who poured boiling water mixed with sugar over the face of his sleeping cellmate during an incident at HMP Leeds two years ago has been jailed as a dangerous offender.

Dean Womersley, 44, of Bradford, admitted a charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent on the day of his trial in February and on Friday was jailed for six years and given an extended licence period of three years.

Prosecutor Jessica Strange told a hearing at Bradford Crown Court that the two men had been sharing a cell at HMP Leeds for about a week before Womersley carried out the “callous” attack.

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During the afternoon Womersley, formerly of Lower Ashgrove, had been smoking a lot of Spice in his cell and the complainant told him to calm down the amount he was using.

Miss Strange said the complainant then went to sleep on the top bunk and didn’t wake up as the defendant boiled the kettle.

She said Womersley then mixed sugar into the water before pouring the liquid onto his sleeping man’s face.

The complainant fell from the top bunk as the mixture dripped down his face and he described Womersley as looking like “a zombie”.

The injured man managed to press the emergency button and prison officers assisted him by using cold water until he was taken by ambulance to Leeds General Infirmary.

Womersley later claimed that the complainant had spilled the water on himself while making a brew and Recorder Bryan Cox KC noted that the defendant had shown no remorse over the incident.

The injured man suffered partial thickness burns to the right side of his face and neck and the scarring was still visible two years later.

The complainant had also suffered an injury to this shoulder when fell from the bunk bed.

Solicitor advocate Saf Salam, for Womersley, highlighted the fact that his client had not committed any violent offences since the 1990s and he outlined the defendant’s mental health difficulties which included suffering from a psychotic illness.

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He said Womersley was now taking anti-psychotic medication and the incident had taken place when his client was using drugs and in a “caged environment” with another person.

But Recorder Cox concluded that Womersley was a dangerous offender who posed a significant risk of serious harm in the future.

“This was a callous attack in a prison where you were a serving prisoner,” the judge told Womersley.

“Your victim was vulnerable because he was asleep in a locked cell and your attack involved a degree of premeditation.”

The judge said it had been “gratuitous violence” and added: "You have no remorse for your offending and you continue to feel that it was justified. It was plainly not."