A detainee at HMP Birmingham will spend more time behind bars for slashing a fellow inmate with a makeshift knife – the latest success for West Midlands Police’s prison-based investigation team.
Shallan Mohammed (pictured) left the prisoner needing 24 stitches in his cheek after attacking him with what detectives suspect was a razor blade melted into the end of a toothbrush.
The 35-year-old Iraqi national – being held in the Winson Green facility on immigration matters – lashed out on 17 November 2014 when the two crossed paths on a balcony on the prison’s M Wing.
He was released from jail on 2 December but was re-arrested in Middlesbrough on January 7 after prison staff found a blade embedded into a toothbrush hidden behind a plug socket in his former cell.
Forensic examination of the homemade weapon failed to return any DNA link to the 32-year-old victim but Mohammed was picked out during an ID procedure while officers were able to disprove alibi claims that he was playing table tennis at the time of the attack.
And at Birmingham Crown Court he was jailed for eight years after being found guilty of wounding.
It’s the latest in a series of successful convictions for the force’s prison investigators.
Recent cases have seen inmates handed extra jail time for attacking and spitting at staff, while two men were both jailed for seven-and-a-half years for a vicious assault that left a detainee with a broken jaw.
DC Jim Farrell said: “Violence is unacceptable at all levels whether on staff or inmates...we’re working with G4S to keep weapons out of prison and keep prisoners and staff safe.
“Anyone committing violent offences in HMP Birmingham can expect to be prosecuted and potentially end up spending more time behind bars.”

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