AN unconscious prisoner had to be taken to hospital by air ambulance after being attacked by an inmate who accused him of being ‘a snitch’.

Victim Noormal Nazari spent two days in intensive care and struggled to walk for months as a result of the assault in Channings Wood Prison near Newton Abbot.

The attack was started by inmate Junior Blake who called him a snitch because he thought he had tipped off authorities about a contraband mobile phone which had been seized by warders.

Another prisoner, Jake Newson, left his cell to join in and knocked Mr Nazari to the ground before Blake resumed the attack by kicking and stamping on the helpless victim’s head.

Blake, also known as Connor Freeman, aged 23, of Taunton; and Newson, aged 28, of Mount Gould Road, Plymouth, both admitted causing actual bodily harm.

Blake was jailed for two years and Newson for one year by Recorder Mr David Chidgey at Exeter Crown Court.

He told them: ‘Mr Nazari was on the floor and no threat to anyone when you, Blake, kicked his head and stamped on him. The effect of these assaults was quite profound and he spent two days in intensive care.’

The sentences mean that Blake, who had been released from a 40-month sentence for child rape, will return to jail. Newson, who is still serving 68 months for drug dealing, will have his sentence extended.

Mr Herc Ashworth, prosecuting, said the attack took place at 11.45 am on January 28 last year when Blake accused Mr Nazari of being a snitch.

He punched him repeatedly in a shower room before Mr Nazari got back into a corridor where Newson was seen on CCTV felling him with a heavy punch to the back of his head.

Blake then kicked and stamped on his head as other inmates tried to stop him. Prison officers found him unconscious and having a seizure and paramedics feared he would die as they airlifted him to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth.

He made a victim impact statement saying he needed help to walk for three months and still has headaches, flashbacks and nightmares.

Mr William Parkhill, for Blake, said the pressure of prison life led him to act in a stupid way which he now regrets.

Miss Hollie Gilbery, for Newson, said his role in the attack was much less than Blake’s and he only got involved in a misguided attempt to help his friend.