LEEDS, YORKSHIRE: A pedophile, who was being held in prison as he awaited his sentencing, was brutally attacked by his cellmate in a revenge beating.
50-year-old Jonathan Byram of Dewsbury had previously pleaded guilty to blindfolding and raping a four-year-old and was in jail when he was allegedly battered by his cellmate, according to the Daily Mail.
A photo of Byram taken after the attack and released by the West Yorkshire Police shows the man with gashes and cuts all over his face and prominent swelling above his right eye.
During his sentencing hearing last week at the Leeds Crown Court, which took place after his beating, Prosecutor Rupert Doswell detailed Byram’s horrific crimes against his young victim.
He said that the police were called after the victim told a relative about the rape and said she had been blindfolded by Byram during the assault.
Investigators arrested the 50-year-old, who has previous convictions for arson, child cruelty, and assault after they found a tie matching the description given by the girl at his home.
The sentencing hearing was briefly interrupted after an outburst from a man in the public gallery when Byram’s offenses were being laid out in the court.
Security staff was called into the room after the man shouted, “You better give him life or else I will kill him.”
His barrister Ketherine Robinson described the violence that had been inflicted on Byram in prison and said her client was aware of the hurt he had caused and felt he deserved it.
“He is struggling in prison,” she said. “He has been assaulted by his cellmate. Others might think that is what he rightly deserves and he accepts that.”
“The best mitigation that this defendant has is his plea,” she continued. “He has a genuine appreciation of the harm that he has caused.”
Judge Neil Clark sentenced Byram to 10 years in prison, followed by an extended license period of one year.
He also ordered the 50-year-old to register as a sex offender for life.
“The true effect of this type of behavior is the psychological impact,” he told Byram.
“You can offer no explanation for what happened. There must have been some sexual motivation for happened.”