missile attack on a photographer from The Royal Gazette .

Rupert Elroy Archibald hurled a hair-brush -- which had apparently been concealed in the pocket of his prison uniform -- at photographer David Skinner as he left Supreme Court on Friday.

The impromptu weapon smacked into a camera flash before striking Mr. Skinner in the head.

Yesterday, Prison Commissioner Edward Dyer said the matter was still under investigation.

"How he managed to obtain it (the brush), I don't know,'' said Mr. Dyer.

"I was a little surprised that he was able to retain the brush.'' But Mr. Dyer went on to say the result of the internal investigation was unlikely to be made public.

Archibald launched the assault shortly after being sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for his part in the gun hold-up and theft of some $37,500 from the Bank of Bermuda in Somerset last year.

His co-accused Michael Eugene Dillas received an 18-year prison sentence.

Along with numerous pieces of circumstantial evidence linking the two men to the robbery, the Crown's case was strengthened by the mid-trial surprise testimony of convicted bank robber Yusef Ameerbakka DeSilva.

DeSilva was sentenced to 18 years in prison after pleading guilty earlier this year to his part in the Somerset bank robbery.

In the recent trial he identified both Archibald and Dillas as his former conspirators and gave a detailed account of events before and after the heist.

Prisons probe However, prosecutors did not disclose DeSilva's name until the trial was underway because they feared for his safety.

And Chief Justice Austin Ward later ordered Police officers to place DeSilva in protective custody.

Courtroom security was noticeably beefed up as DeSilva was flanked by an escort of uniformed and plain clothed officers throughout his three days of testimony.

But yesterday Mr. Dyer would not be drawn on DeSilva's current location among the population at the Westgate Correctional Facility.

"He's as safe as we can make him,'' said Mr. Dyer. "He is not at risk where he is at Westgate.'' DeSilva is understood to be appealing his sentence.