An inmate tried to stab a Norwich Prison guard with a pair of nail scissors after she tried to give him a leaflet to read.

Ross Macpherson, 35, attacked the officer only a day after he arrived at the Knox Road jail.

Norwich Crown Court heard another officer received a cut to the face as well as marks to his neck after the trouble broke out on December 7, 2023.

Norwich Crown CourtNorwich Crown Court (Image: Peter Walsh, Newsquest) Martin Ivory, prosecuting, said Macpherson had just arrived at the prison and was visited by the female officer who tried to give him a leaflet which he said he did not want.

The court heard the officer told the inmate she "didn't have a choice" but Macpherson "became agitated" stating "I don't want it, I'm not a crack head".

Mr Ivory said Macpherson then told her to "f**k off", prompting her to call him a "pr**k".

Things then "escalated" and Macpherson tried to shut the door but it bounced back open.

Mr Ivory said he was seen to be holding a pair of nail scissors in his hand.

Another prison officer saw what was happening and intervened as his arm came up but as it did so "felt something cut the side of his face".

As well as a superficial cut to his face he also sustained other marks to the neck area and was "patched up at prison".

Norwich PrisonNorwich Prison (Image: Newsquest) Macpherson, currently of HMP Frankland, County Durham, appeared at court Wednesday having admitted unlawful wounding.

Imposing an 18-month jail sentence, Judge Anthony Bate said the prison officer was "simply doing his duty".

He said the attack was "not only frightening for the prison officer but also strikes out at the root of prison discipline".

But the judge did accept the attack was not pre-planned but was "borne out of impulsivity and the frustration you felt at that time".

Philip Farr, mitigating, said Macpherson, who was diagnosed with a personality disorder in 2017, has "has had difficulties with prison officers in the past".

He said he did not want the paperwork, or feel that he needed it and "took exception to that".

Mr Farr said he tried to shut the door which is when "the situation escalated".