A RAPIST has been sentenced for a 'dirty and disgusting' assault on a prison officer on the Isle of Wight

Jack Williams, of HMP Isle of Wight, appeared before Island magistrates on Friday (January 7).

The 24-year-old admitted assault by beating of a prison officer, on October 30, 2021.

Prosecutor, Liz Miller, told the court Williams was a serving prisoner who had been out of his cell on the landing.

She said he was being difficult and would not return to his cell, and when staff placed hands on him, he started to struggle and had to be taken to the ground.

When he was restrained, Ms Miller said he turned and spat — his saliva hitting one of the officers on the hand and forearm.

In a statement read out in court, the victim described Williams' behaviour as dirty and disgusting.

He said he would rather be hit in the face than spat at, and with residents testing positive for Covid-19 on his unit, infection was a real and present danger.

The court heard Williams was serving a 14-year sentence for rape in 2016.

Jim Osborne, defending, said Williams pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

He said he was having his head forced on to concrete, and spitting was the only way to get the officer off him.

Williams was fined £200 and handed a further seven days in custody, to run concurrently with his other sentence.