Inmate 'tried to murder jail's imam with knife'
PAAn inmate at a high-security jail is accused of trying to murder the prison's imam after obtaining a knife behind bars, a court has heard.
Ahmed Ali Alid, from Hartlepool, is accused of the attempted murder of Roderic Vassie at HMP Full Sutton in Yorkshire on 8 August last year.
Westminster Magistrates' Court heard Alid, a Moroccan national, is accused of having a knife and using it to "slice" the top of Vassie's head before attempting to stab him five times.
The 47-year-old did not indicate any pleas to charges of attempted murder and possession of an offensive weapon in a prison. The case was sent to the Old Bailey for a hearing on 17 April.
Alid appeared via video-link from HMP Wakefield.
He is also accused of assault occasioning actual bodily harm on prison guard Sarah Mitchell on 21 October last year, after he had been moved to the jail.
"The defendant was a serving prisoner at HMP Full Sutton," prosecutor Sally-Anne Russell said.
"The first incident is that on 8 August he attacked the imam in the prison using a sharp weapon."
She said it was alleged Alid "sliced the top of his head with the weapon and then attempted to stab him a further five times to the head and neck area".
Russell said the alleged attack on Mitchell happened when she opened his cell door at HMP Wakefield.
