FOUR prison officers from Bullingdon Prison, near Bicester, yesterday went on trial accused of falsifying records to cover up the alleged assault of a prisoner.
They are all charged with conspiring to pervert the course of justice over the incident, said to have taken place on February 4, 2013.
Michael Stooks, 43, of Tingewick, Buckinghamshire, also faces two counts of assaulting Jamie Cassell, then a serving prisoner.
Nigel Daley, prosecuting, said it was these alleged attacks that led to the “whitewash” by Stooks and three other guards – Martin Egerton, 25, of Lower Heyford; Mark Reed, 45, of Bicester; and Nicholas McGregor, 38, of Witney.
He said the four were called to the segregation unit in the prison for violent inmates because Mr Cassell was breaking up his furniture.
But Mr Daley said while restraining him and transporting him to a safety cell with no furniture, Stooks twice subjected him to “frenzied” attacks.
The mandatory “use of force” logs were then falsified by the four to remove the name of a guard who objected to his supervisor’s behaviour, he said.
The four men deny all the charges.
The trial at Oxford Crown Court continues.
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