Burglar gets £5m after he's stabbed by convicted murderer in prison canteen

A burglar who suffered 'life-changing' injuries after he was stabbed while he worked in a prison canteen has been awarded more than £5m in damages.

Steven Wilson, 36, sued the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) after he was struck multiple times with a nine-inch knife by a fellow prisoner as he carried out kitchen duties. A risk assessment of Mr Wilson’s attacker, who was serving a life sentence for murder, said it was 'unknown' if he could be left unsupervised, but he was still deployed to work in the kitchen with access to knives.

The MoJ admitted liability over the incident but challenged the level of Mr Wilson’s claim for damages. In a ruling at the High Court, however, Judge Melissa Clarke awarded Mr Wilson £5,404,559.05 in damages.

READ MORE: 'My life in Tenerife turned into a nightmare. Now I'm suing Spain'

In a written judgment, she said: “There is no doubt that Mr Wilson’s life has been radically and permanently affected by the physical and psychiatric/psychological injuries caused by that terrible attack in the prison kitchen. I hope that despite his challenges, he is able to engage to the fullest extent with all the therapies that I have found he requires, so that his life is as full and active as it can be.”

It happened inside HMP Chelmsford in Essex in July 2018. In the 112-page ruling, the judge said the injuries Mr Wilson sustained included lacerations to his liver and stomach, penetrating wounds to his abdomen and chest wall, and an incomplete spinal lesion. The judge said as a result of the injuries, Mr Wilson needed a self-propelled wheelchair, “walking stick and walking frame to mobilise, depending on his levels of pain and fatigue."

Judge Clarke said that during the trial in April, Mr Wilson described how