A quartet of prisoners who attacked a fellow inmate then brawled with guards while drunk on hooch have been jailed.

Sending the men back inside on Thursday (May 11), Recorder John Bate-Williams said their crimes were so serious that only immediate custody was appropriate.

He described the three-on-one attack on the inmate as ‘cowardly’ and ‘not generally regarded as a fair fight’.

“This was a very serious outburst of violence in a prison environment with each of you playing a significant role,” he added.

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Prosecuting, Bethan Chichester told Oxford Crown Court  the four men were serving prisoners at HMP Bullingdon on February 13 last year when Ross Cantwell, Louie Withers and Brandon Hutchinson approached another inmate.

Cantwell led the unprovoked attack, backed up by Withers and Brandon. Withers threw punches at the victim, who was held up against the wall before falling to the floor. Cantwell and Brandon joined in, kicking and stamping on the victim’s head.

Prison officers quickly arrived on the scene. Brandon ran off but was pursued by the guard, who tried to restrain the man.

Connor Hutchinson, Brandon’s brother and the only one of the four not involved in the first ruckus, pushed the officer off and threw him to the ground and began his own attack.

Another officer was punched in the face by Connor, while a third was shoved against the landing railing. “She believed Connor Hutchinson was attempting to throw her over [the railing],” Ms Chichester said.

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Both Hutchinsons were eventually restrained, the court heard. The officer who originally went after Brandon suffered a cut to the forehead and bruising to the face.

While the brothers were brawling with officers, Withers and Cantwell ran towards the fight as if to intervene but were stopped by other prison officers. One of those officers was forcefully pushed to the chest by Cantwell. Withers went to his cell and reappeared with a crutch, which he waved towards the guards.

The Hutchinsons were moved to a foyer area, where they tried to free themselves from their restraints.

Brandon told the officers that he found it ‘funny’ that when he saw the officer ‘on the outside’ he would ‘cut him up’. He added that he was ‘not a d***head’ and that he was in jail for ‘cutting people up’.

All four answered no comment when they were interviewed about the offence.

Brandon Hutchinson, 21, pleaded guilty to affray and causing actual bodily harm. He is currently serving a sentence for attacking a man after a rave near Oxford.

Mitigating, Karen Walton said the young man was ‘utterly ashamed by the behaviour and wishes through me to apologise to those officers for any injury [or] distress’.

Connor Hutchinson, 22, admitted affray and ABH. Peter du Feu, defending, said his client was a talented footballer ‘before the drink wrecked him’, he had Football Association coaching qualifications and still hoped to teach the sport in the future.

Both the Hutchinsons were serving a sentence for robbery at the time of the February affray. The brothers had a difficult childhood in the care system, it was said.

The Hutchinsons were each given 18 months’ imprisonment.

Louie Withers, 34, admitted affray. He was in HMP Bullingdon doing time for dangerous driving and drugs offences. Mitigating, Christopher Pembridge said Withers was released a short time after the brawl, had a partner and children and was a carer for his mother. The judge gave him 15 months.

Ross Cantwell, 36, pleaded guilty to affray and received 15 months’ imprisonment. He was serving a sentence for wounding with intent when he was involved in the assault. Ms Walton, defending, said her client recognised his difficulties with alcohol and had been working with addiction support service Turning Point since his release from jail.