A prisoner who slashed a fellow inmate across the face and neck has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 15 years, after warning he would “cut a Governor or an officer” if given the chance.
Christopher Scott, 46, was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court after admitting wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The attack on Peter McGarry took place inside Lowdham Grange prison on August 12, 2025.
Premeditated revenge attack
Prosecutor Mark Bate said Scott and McGarry were “friends” and that the victim had borrowed vapes from Scott and owed him money. Bate described the attack as “a well-planned and premeditated attack in which significant planning was involved and the face was deliberately chosen.”
Scott fashioned a makeshift knife from a toothbrush by melting razor blades into it. He attacked McGarry as he walked away. The injury began below the victim's right eye, went across his face and neck, and finished at his collarbone. It required a significant amount of stitches and left a permanent 10-to-12-inch scar.
Threats to staff and claims of conspiracy
Immediately after the attack, the cell block was placed in lockdown. When an officer went to Scott's cell, Scott asked: “what are you looking for? If it is the weapon, yeah, I did it, I slashed McGarry.” Asked why, he replied “he was being nosey.”
Representing himself, Scott told the court: “Everything you have heard today is totally correct, but there is also another reason I cut Pete. There is a corrupt police officer at Staffordshire Police who is trying to kill me. The next time, I will cut a Governor or an officer to get back before you. I don't even want to go home, I don't care if you give me 100 or 200 years, there is a very, very, dangerous conspiracy in Stoke and I don't ever want to go home again.”
Judge: ‘at war with the system’
Judge Stuart Rafferty KC said: “It is clear that you are effectively, for whatever reasons, at war with the system and you do not wish to be released because of harm that will come to you. You have demonstrated that by causing harm to other people, and it is apparent today that if you have the opportunity, you will cause further offences unless the grievances you have are properly addressed. It is perfectly clear you are a danger of causing serious harm, and I am satisfied the risk you pose will continue in precisely the same way.”
Scott, now of HMP Milton Keynes, has 26 convictions for 42 offences stretching back to his youth, including “an identical offence in every way” to the Lowdham Grange attack, robbery and previous woundings.
