Man who murdered girlfriend and three children ‘smashed fellow inmate’s skull with a claw hammer’
The victim is understood to be fighting for his life.
A man jailed for the murder of his pregnant girlfriend and three children has now smashed the skull of a fellow inmate – with a claw hammer – it has been reported.
‘Monster’ Damien Bendall was sentenced to life in prison for the brutal killings of his partner Terri Harris as well as her children John Paul Bennett, 13, and 11-year-old Lacey Bennett, as well as herfriend Connie Gent, 11.
The 33-year-old also admitted the rape of little Lacey at the house in Killamarsh, near Sheffield, on September 19, 2021.
It is now being alleged that he bludgeoned another prisoner during a workshop.
The victim was hit on the head ‘three or four times’ and is not fighting for his life, but may not survive, according to The Sun.
The attack is alleged to have happened at Frankland Prison, in Durham, on Friday.
‘This is a shocking and horrendous attack even by the standards of Frankland jail, which is a grim and violent place,’ they said.
‘The prison officers and medics who attended were traumatised.
‘Police will investigate it as either attempted murder or murder, depending on if the victim survives.’
It is understood that Bendall has since been put into a segregation unit away from other inmates.
During his sentencing in court, the killings in Killamarsh were described as ‘brutal, vicious and cruel attacks on a defenceless woman’ and three young children.
A jury was told that Bendall likely raped little Lacey at least twice.
Her friend Connie had only been due to stay over for one night, but successfully got permission from her mother, fatefully extending her stay by another night – coinciding with the attacks.
What also emerged was that having brutally killed his partner and the children, he ’took John’s Xbox (games console), ordered a taxi, went to Sheffield’, where he then exchanged the console ‘for drugs’.
Bendall would later tell police he had consumed ‘three to four bags of cocaine and then blacked out’.
Metro.co.uk has contacted Durham Police for a comment.
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