Inmate who slashed terrorist's face jailed

A violent inmate who slashed the face of the Finsbury Park terrorist in a maximum security prison has been jailed for a further four years and three months.

Daniel Service, 33, attacked Darren Osborne, who killed a man when he drove into a crowd outside a mosque in north London, at HMP Frankland in Durham in January 2023, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Service, who was serving 12 year years for leaving a man with life-changing brain injuries, repeatedly slashed Osborne with a craft knife after the pair argued about a fitness book.

Service, originally from Gloucestershire appeared at court via videolink from HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire and admitted wounding Osborne with intent.

The court heard Service and Osborne had been friends before the attack on 7 January last year, going to the gym and playing snooker together.

Service, who had converted to Islam, had offered to lend Osborne a book about fitness and went to his cell to give it to him, prosecutor Eleanor Mitten said.

Tensions were high in the prison because a stash of craft knives had gone missing and Service claimed he had armed himself with a blade for protection, the court heard.

An argument broke out in Osborne's cell about the delay in the book being handed over prompting Service to slash Osborne several times across the face.

Osborne suffered cuts to the left side of his face, nose and from his eye to his lip which had resulted in scarring, the court heard.

The convicted terrorist said the attack had left him feeling unsafe and feared he would have been blinded if it were not for his glasses protecting his eye.

In mitigation, Rabah Kherbane said it was a "spontaneous argument" at a time when Osborne's fears may have been heightened as he was "anxious about big Muslims on the wing".

Osborne, from Cardiff, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 43 years in 2018 for the 2017 attack, while Service, from Yate, had been jailed in 2019 for 12 years with a further five years on extended licence for attacking a man in a Bristol hotel.

On that occasion, Service had a chance meeting with a man he had known from a prison stay and the pair went to a hotel room together with Service's girlfriend, the court heard.

The victim was later found in a life-threatening condition and though he survived, he had suffered an "extensive brain injury" which would require lifelong support and care, Ms Mitten said.

Judge Richard Bennett said Service remained a danger to other inmates and the public and his new sentence, which also included a further four years on extended licence, would be consecutive to the term he was currently serving.

Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].