Lipstick tattoo prisoner back at Oxford court for Bullingdon attack

Shaun Page, whose distinctive tattoo of red lipstick on his neck helped identify him in a separate attack at HMP Bullingdon, lashed out at the guard using a 'weighted sock' as he tried to remove the inmate from netting strung up between wings at the Bicester prison in October 2021.

On Thursday (March 23), Judge Michael Gledhill KC gave the 22-year-old – born on Christmas Day in 2000 – an extra 14 months behind bars.

He told Page, who despite his young age has more than 100 offences on his list of previous convictions: “It’s about time you take responsibility for your actions, behave like an adult and put your past behind you.”

The judge wished the institutionalised inmate well, having been told by Page’s counsel Eiran Reilly that he hoped to gain a trade and travel the world upon his eventual release from custody.

Mr Reilly, defending, told the court: “He’s grown up. He’s realised that this is all just time that is wasted in his life and he wants to move on.”

Prosecutor Steven Molloy said that, as well as the assault on prison officer in October 2021, Page also had to be sentenced for having a homemade knife – or ‘shiv’ – built from a toothbrush handle, a razor blade and the elastic from a surgical face mask.

The knife fell from the hatch in Page’s prison cell door when a guard responded to his call for assistance on June 18, 2021. On the defendant’s behalf, it was said the toothbrush shiv was for 'protection'.

HMP Bullingdon, where the incidents took place (Image: Unknown)

The inmate was originally due before Oxford Crown Court last November to enter his pleas to the allegations of assaulting an emergency worker and possession of a weapon in prison.

When he refused to come to court from prison, the judge entered not guilty pleas on his behalf and fixed a trial date for later this year.

His solicitors contacted the court several weeks ago, saying Page now wanted to plead guilty.

However, court hearings had to be adjourned twice as the defendant either refused to get on the custody van to court or was not produced on a video link.

He finally attended court on Thursday and pleaded guilty to the three charges he faced. His counsel said he had previously refused to attend as he was scared of returning to HMP Bullingdon.

Earlier this week, Judge Gledhill demanded a governor from HMP Swaleside, the Kent jail where Page is currently serving a three-and-a-half year jail sentence for throwing boiling water over two Bullingdon inmates, come to court and explain why his order for the defendant to be brought to court with force if necessary was ignored.

The deputy governor did not attend on Thursday morning and Judge Gledhill took the unusual step of issuing a witness summons.

If she does not attend on Friday (March 24), it is possible she could be held in contempt of court, which carries a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment.

Asked what comment they had on the witness summons being issued for the deputy governor, a Prison Service spokeswoman said following Thursday’s hearing: “The prisoner has now appeared in court.”