Damien Bendall, a convicted murderer already serving a whole-life sentence, has been given a further life term after attacking a fellow inmate with a claw hammer at HMP Frankland in Durham. The 36-year-old former cage fighter struck Michael Mullaney four times in the head without warning, leaving him with depressed skull fractures and bleeding on the brain. Prosecutors said the attack, in a workshop in May 2024, was so severe that a prison officer initially believed the victim might be dead.
Judge Francis Laird KC imposed a life sentence with a minimum term of 15 years at Teesside Crown Court, noting that Bendall will never be released regardless. The attempted murder was aggravated by the fact it occurred in prison and by Bendall's previous convictions for violent and sexual offences, the judge said. Bendall had used a claw hammer in the horrific killings of his pregnant partner Terri Harris, 35, her children Lacey, 11, and John Paul, 13, and Lacey's friend Connie Gent, 11, in Killamarsh, Derbyshire, in September 2021.
During the sentencing, the court heard that Bendall had planned the attack to engineer a transfer to the segregation unit because he was concerned about his deteriorating mental state. Defence counsel Vanessa Marshall KC said Bendall wanted to apologise to Mullaney, stating: 'He held no contempt for Mr Mullaney, despite what he did. There is evidence that they were friends and he wanted to convey his regrets and apologies.' The victim, Michael Mullaney, spent four nights in hospital and later reported feeling anxious, reluctant to leave his cell, and struggling to sleep.
Bendall, wearing a blue T-shirt and with a shaved head, watched proceedings via videolink from HMP Wakefield. He submitted immediately when a prison officer drew a baton and sounded an alarm, throwing the hammer aside and putting his arms out. Officers later asked why he had attacked his friend, with whom he sometimes played dominoes. Bendall's whole-life tariff for the Killamarsh murders remains in place, ensuring he will never be released from prison.
