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Inmates staged a siege in trashed cell
Isfan Jahangir, 21, an inmate from Lancaster Farms sentenced for affray
Three inmates pretended to take a fellow prisoner hostage in a three-hour stand-off, a court was told.
Lewis Gardner, Isfan Jahangir and David Lavery barricaded themselves in a cell at Lancaster Farms young offenders’ institution by pulling a locker in front of the door.
Preston Crown Court heard the trio were accompanied by a fourth inmate and threats were made against him.
Jahangir, 21, was heard to shout: “We have got someone under the bed. If you come in, he is going to get it.
“I will smash his head in and kill him. I want my demands met. It is only a Section 18 (wounding) now it will soon be attempted murder. He is half dead.”
Jahangir was later seen holding a razor blade to the lad’s neck and warning of trouble if officers entered the cell.
The court was told the stand-off went on for about three hours on the evening of October 3 last year.
Ten officers in full riot gear with shields attended and removed the four men from the cell, one by one, about 10pm.
They discovered the cell had been trashed, with glass on the door and window smashed, a sink pulled off the wall and furniture damaged.
At interview, Jahangir and 19-year-old Gardner claimed their ‘hostage’ had been a willing participant in the incident, a claim that was later accepted by prosecutors. Jahangir, Gardner and Lavery, 21, all pleaded guilty to affray and criminal damage.
In mitigation, the court heard the incident had been a “ruse” staged in an attempt to get a transfer to another jail.
Judge Michael Byrne said: “This was a very serious ruse, rendered no less serious by the fact later on it became apparent it was a ruse. The point of a ruse is to make it appear genuine.”
Jahangir and Lavery were jailed for 12 months. Gardner got 12 months detention.
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Sunday 19 May 2013
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