Rapist held prisoner 'hostage' for five hours and whipped him with power cord

Aaron Stewart, a serving prisoner at HMP Rye Hill, had been sharing a cell with James Clarkson for several months when he turned on him, trapped him in the room and repeatedly whipped him with his DVD power cord.

The 36-year-old is serving a long sentence for rape, and on January 18 this year he was told that he would be moving to a different wing of the prison after Clarkson had complained that he no longer felt safe sharing a cell with him.

Prosecuting, Emma Hornby, told Northampton Crown Court that Stewart would lose his prison job as a result of the move.

"Mr Stewart started hitting the cell door and stating he wanted to go down to ‘the block’,” said Ms Hornby.

“He turned to Mr Clarkson and accused him of grassing him up.”

Stewart then took the cable from the DVD player and told Clarkson he was ‘going to get a hiding’.

He began to swing the cable around and hit Clarkson on the shoulder, causing him injuries.

Stewart told Clarkson to tape-up gaps in the door and the safety hatch to stop staff from looking in.

A prison negotiator was called and after five hours, at 11.20pm, both men eventually came out of the cell.

Clarkson was struggling to breathe and was distressed. He had blood on his back and shoulder from where he had been whipped.

Stewart appeared at Northampton Crown Court yesterday (Thursday, August 22) to plead guilty to actual bodily harm.

The court heard he had 36 previous convictions including for battery and assaults.

Mitigating, Liam Muir told the court his client had pleaded guilty and had mostly behaved well while in prison.

Sentencing, His Honour Judge William Harbage KC said: “During the five hours that the incident lasted you whipped him across his shoulders and back with the cable causing nasty welts.”

He sentenced Stewart to 18 months in prison to be served consecutively to his current sentence.