A remand prisoner who admitted assaulting a fellow inmate and a corrections officer yesterday claimed that the attack came after he was called a racial slur.

Alvin Leverock, 41, told Magistrates’ Court that a combination of stress and outrage caused him to punch Edward Odell, who was on remand awaiting trial.

He said: “I should have just turned around, but at the time I was going through a lot and I dealt with it in the wrong way.

“But I’m still a human being – I should have some kind of human rights.”

The court heard that Leverock punched Mr Odell from behind on July 20 last year when Mr Odell waited for a nurse to give him his medication.

A police report said that no interaction between the pair was caught on CCTV before the attack.

Kenneth Burns, a corrections officer, tried to handcuff Leverock, but he swung at the officer and was detained.

Mr Odell, who lost consciousness for “a few moments” when he was hit, was taken to the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital for treatment.

It was found that he had a black eye and swelling on the left side of his head, as well as a cut behind his right ear and pain and swelling to his jaw.

Leverock, who was on remand for a Supreme Court sentencing for another assault, said that he regretted his actions and had tried to apologise to Mr Odell.

But he denied that the attack was unprovoked.

Mr Odell, who is on remand at Westgate Correctional Facility awaiting trial for alleged drugs charges, said in a victim impact statement that he had suffered physical and emotional problems after the attack.

The statement, which was read by Crown prosecutor Kentisha Tweed, said: “I am at a total loss to understand or comprehend why someone, without provocation of any kind, physically attacked me from behind.

“The incident has deepened my existing depression and anxiety issues and made it hard to sleep at night.

“The prison’s health services supplied me ice packs every day for three to four hours to relieve the swelling – this lasted for five to six days following my attack.”

Ms Tweed told the court that Leverock had offences of a similar nature to the assaults.

Senior magistrate Juan Wolffe sentenced him to six months imprisonment for each offence to run concurrently.

He ordered that Leverock’s time in custody be taken into consideration.

Mr Wolffe said: “Whether or not he called you a racial slur is no reason for you to take matters into your own hands and assault him in the way which you did.

“There are avenues, I’m sure, at Westgate Correctional Facility that you could have taken alternatively.”

• It is The Royal Gazette’s policy not to allow comments on stories regarding court cases. As we are legally liable for any libellous or defamatory comments made on our website, this move is for our protection as well as that of our readers.