Two murderers left inmate with punctured lung

Two young murderers left a fellow inmate with a punctured lung in a stabbing with improvised weapons, a court has heard.

Shawn Spence, 20, and Kai Howitt, 21, attacked a man in HMP Deerbolt at Barnard Castle, County Durham, in April 2025, Durham Crown Court heard.

Both were serving life sentences for murder, the court heard, with Judge Joanne Kidd saying Spence clearly thought himself "above the law".

Each admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm, with Spence jailed for a further four years and Howitt for three years seven months. A third inmate, James Morton, 21, who was serving a sentence for wounding, was jailed for four months for punching the inmate as he fled the two attackers.

The victim was standing talking to other prisoners in a hallway on Deerbolt's F-Wing when, at about 14:45 BST on 25 April 2025, Spence charged at him swiftly followed by Howitt, prosecutor Glenn Gatland said.

Both were armed with makeshift weapons and Spence repeatedly stabbed the victim in the head, chest, back and neck, the court heard, with the entire incident captured on CCTV.

As the man ran away, Morton punched him, the court heard.

Spence and Howitt then dumped their weapons in a bin, with Howitt returning a few moments later and taking the bag of waste with the "obvious intention of trying to distance" himself and Spence from the blades, Gatland said.

The victim was taken to hospital where he was found to have 10 knife wounds, one of which had punctured his left lung, the court heard.

He had since made a full recovery and had not assisted the prosecution, the court heard.

Spence led and launched the attack as a "form of revenge" because of what he believed the victim had been saying about the murderer owing a debt, Gatland said.

Spence was already a convicted robber when he was jailed for life with a minimum term of 16 years for murder in 2022, the court heard, since when he had accrued further convictions for possessing weapons in prison and using violence against fellow inmates.

Howitt was jailed for life with a minimum term of 14 years in July 2024 for murder, the court heard, while Morton was jailed in October 2023 for seven years and nine months for intentional wounding.

No details were given about the trio's previous offences, but the BBC understands Howitt and a 13-year-old boy murdered a man at a skate park in Nottingham, while Morton stabbed a teenager in the eye with a crossbow in Skelmersdale, Lancashire.

Kidd said Spence orchestrated and led the prison attack, having enlisted the help of "suggestible" Howitt.

The judge said Spence "had no fear" of the hallway being covered by CCTV as he considered himself "above the law" and prison authorities.

Spence confirmed that with comments made to probation officers, with the murderer styling himself as a "leader among men" who had "authority and kudos" from his involvement in gang activity, Kidd said.

She said the stabbing had a "real risk" of causing death or serious injury, with both Spence and Howitt being assessed as posing a significant risk of harm to others.

Each of the three men's sentences will be served consecutively to their other prison terms, the court heard.

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