Baby abuser attacked in jail with tuna cans, metal bars by fellow inmates

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A British man who was jailed after abusing his then-newborn baby was allegedly held captive and hit by his fellow inmates with tuna cans and metal bars.

The incident involving Tony Smith took place on Aug. 7 at Swaleside Prison on the Isle of Sheppey, United Kingdom, as reported by the Daily Star yesterday, Aug. 26. Smith was apparently tied to a chair, held hostage for four hours and was attacked with a sock filled with tuna cans as well as metal bars by two of his fellow prisoners. He was also stamped all over his body.

The incident left him with a fractured eye socket, broken ribs and a broken jaw. The jail guard managed to get his assaulters off of him just in time. The police have also launched an investigation on the matter.

“Staff resolved an incident involving three prisoners at [Her Majesty’s Prison] HMP Swaleside on Aug. 7,” a Prison Service spokesman said in the report. “The incident has been referred to the police so that it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

Smith was jailed together with his partner Jodie Simpson after they were found guilty of abusing their then-41-day-old baby boy at their home in Maidstone, November 2014. Their abuse resulted to fractures in the baby’s legs, and septicemia or blood poisoning.

The injuries the infant sustained were so severe that the doctors had to amputate his legs, the report said. Smith and Simpson admitted they delayed taking Tony to the hospital because they had been waiting for a plumber to fix their broiler.

Since the incident, the baby went to foster care. He has been adopted by a new family not long after.

Meanwhile, this was not the first time an inmate was injured inside HMP Swaleside. The prison was notoriously referred to as “stab city” by inmates, as stated in a report by KentLive in March this year. The prison got its infamous nickname because of the increasing incidents of self-harm, suicide and violence among inmates.

“Swaleside is like no other prison you’ll ever experience. It’s a simmering volcano,” ex-prisoner “Ricky” told the publication. “There is a lot of violence there, people were cut, stabbed, battered, tied up, extorted, and severely bullied.” Kate Matriano/JB

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