Prisoner strangled cellmate to death with TV cable

A HMP Bristol inmate strangled his cellmate to death with a TV cable and then went on to 'tuck' him into bed before attacking another prisoner in the showers. 

Michael Harkin, who had been recalled to the prison for breaching his licence only 24 hours after his release, strangled Dan Childs to death, 38, as he slept. 

Mr Childs, who hailed from Telford, was found dead in his bunk bed the following morning, while Harkin 'walked out as if nothing had happened', the court was told. 

Harkin had begun to progressively form the 'delusional belief that [Mr Child] was a paedophile,' Bristol Crown Court heard. 

Before his death, Mr Childs had informed another prisoners that Harkin, 35, had told him we would kill him if he dozed off. 

'My cellmate won't let me sleep, he tells me if I go to sleep he'll suffocate me,' Mr Childs told his fellow inmate according to BirminghamLive.

Shortly after strangling his cellmate on June 4 2023, Harkin went on to slash another lag, who he had previously shared a cell with for one night with an improvised blade in the showers. 

The second victim demanded to be relocated to another cell amid worries that there 'was something not right' about Harkin, the court was told. 

Psychiatrists had determined Harkin was developing delusions regarding religion and had schizophrenia at the time the incidents took place, the court heard. 

Describing the attack, Mr Justice Bryan told Harkin: 'At some point you killed him by strangling him with the co-axial cord from the cell TV.

'It appears from the pathology evidence that you may have strangled him whilst he was asleep as there is no physical evidence of a struggle.

'It appears you then 'tucked him up' in his sheets on the top bunk.

'When the cell was opened in the morning you walked out of the cell as if nothing had happened, and CCTV on the landing captures you walking around the landing and interacting with others, no-one being aware that Mr Childs was lying dead in his cell. In terms of why you killed Mr Childs. 

'It appears that Mr Childs had the misfortune to have "child" in his name and this led you to the delusional belief that he was a paedophile, which was completely, and absolutely, untrue and had no basis in fact whatsoever.'

Detailing the following shower attack the judge added: 'You slashed him repeatedly with the weapon, resulting in deep cuts to his left shoulder and neck, that have resulted in permanent scarring. 

'He thought he was going to die, as well he might if others had not intervened, and he had bled out. 

'His screams were heard by another prisoner who tried to fend you off with a long-handled mop.'

Harkin was convicted of manslaughter by diminished responsibility by a jury following the 16-day trial. 

The jury had found him not guilty of murder following a direction by the judge. 

The 35-year-old was also found guilty of wounding the second prisoner. 

It was determined that he was not to be guilty of attempting to wound a prison staff member who attempted to intervene in the incident. 

A hospital order issued under Section 37 of the Mental Health Act as well as a Section 41 restriction order was placed upon Harkin by Mr Justice Bryan. 

This means Harkin can be detained for an indefinite amount of time.  

Mr Justice Bryan said : 'I must now sentence you in the light of the verdicts returned by the jury, set against the backdrop that you remain profoundly mentally unwell, and have been detained in, and remain detained in, Broadmoor Hospital, where it is common ground you will need to remain for treatment for the foreseeable future. 

'Your treating consultant forensic psychiatrist in Broadmoor cannot foresee a time when it would be appropriate or safe for you to be returned to the prison system.'