The criminals who were already serving time but couldn’t help but offend again

Prison is supposed to act as a deterrent, to protect the public from any future harm. However, some can’t help but miss the point - and become repeat offenders, getting trapped in a cycle of prosecutions, hearings and prison terms.

The majority of reoffenders do so having already served their sentence. But the least repentant commit crime behind bars - from attacks, to harassment campaigns- to drug dealing.

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Here the Manchester Evening News looks back on those who broke the law while locked up - including a man who brandished a homemade ‘knife’ in his cell and a man who stalked his ex - and so landed themselves more time in jail.

Gary Brooks

Gary Brooks was due to be released after serving time in HMP Forest Bank for a number of assaults on emergency workers.

However, in May last year, whilst three prison officers were carrying out a welfare check, Brooks, 30, jumped at them with a ‘knife’ he made out of a razor attached to a stick.

The officers were able to get out unharmed, and later conducted a search of the cell, finding the blade hidden in a toilet roll, Manchester Crown Court heard.

Brooks, currently residing at Strangeways , pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to possession of an unauthorised knife or bladed weapon in prison. He was handed a 12 month jail term in June, which will be added onto his current sentence.

This means he won’t be released from custody until October 2024.

Jonathan Hardman

Thug Jonathan Hardman was already serving a prison sentence when he acquired a phone in HMP Forest Bank. He then sent ‘hundreds’ of menacing and threatening videos to his ex from his cell.

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