A Norfolk prison officer faced months of medical tests after being attacked by an inmate who threw a bucket of excrement over him.

The “disgusting” attack - known in jail lingo as "potting" - came after Shaun Broughton, an inmate at Wayland Prison, had been denied parole.

Norwich Crown Court heard it had left the officer facing “long term psychological impacts lasting months until the results of tests were known”.

An impact statement read out in court on the officers’ behalf said being covered in urine and excrement had left them dealing with the mental effects including a fear of similar attacks.

Broughton, 31, pleaded guilty after being charged with a poison-related offence due to the fear of health issues associated with body fluids.

He had been at HMP Wayland after being recalled to prison to serve the remainder of an indeterminate sentence for aggravated burglary imposed in 2009 for “public protection” after committing further offences while on licence.

The court was told that following the attack, which occurred on November 26 last year as he was being moved in a gated and locked area on the prison’s C Wing, he had spent six weeks in segregation and has since been transferred to HMP Swaleside in Kent.

Gemma Noble, mitigating, said: “the defendant was struggling at the time and had recently been denied parole. He was also frustrated with the number of short term prisoners. He did not target this officer personally.”

Sentencing him to an additional two years in prison, Judge Andrew Shaw said Broughton had an “appalling record” of offending much of it involving violence including previous assaults on police officers.

He said: “You committed what is in my judgement one of the most unpleasant offences colloquially known as ‘potting’. It is the appalling practice of throwing excrement or urine, or a mixture of the two, over a prison officer who is just going about his job in extremely challenging circumstances.

“As the impact statement from the prison governor makes plain, putting aside the disruption to prison discipline, the real seriousness of this offence is the unknown long-term psychological impact on the officer.

“It is frankly disgusting and you should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself.