Damien Bendall, 36, has received another life sentence after being convicted of attempting to murder fellow prisoner Michael Mullaney at HMP Frankland in Durham.

Bendall is already serving a whole-life sentence for the 2021 murders of his pregnant partner, Terri Harris, 35, her children John Paul, 13, and Lacey, 11, and Lacey’s friend Connie Gent, 11. He previously pleaded guilty to those offenses and was ordered to spend the rest of his life in pr#son.

The latest case concerned an attack on Mullaney inside the pr#son in May 2024. The court heard that Bendall struck him with a claw hammer, leaving him unconscious and requiring hospital treatment. Mullaney later described experiencing anxiety and difficulty sleeping following the incident.

Bendall admitted attempting to mu#der Mullaney and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 15 years. However, Judge Francis Laird KC made clear that Bendall will never be released because of the whole-life order already imposed for the earlier offenses.

The court also heard that Bendall’s defense argued the attack was connected to concerns about his deteriorating mental health and a desire to be moved to a segregation unit. His lawyers said he wanted to apologize to Mullaney.

The new sentence therefore does not change Bendall’s existing whole-life status. Instead, it adds another life sentence to a case that had already resulted in one of the UK’s most severe prison orders.

Source: The Independent, BBC, ITV News, The Standard