After being attacked by two other convicts, an abusive dad who tormented his own child to the point where his legs had to be amputated may now be entitled to compensation.
Anthony Smith, 51, who is carrying a 10-year sentence for child cruelty at HMP Swaleside in Kent, had 12 teeth knocked out during a two-hour savagery by his assailants, who struck him with socks stuffed with tuna cans.
Michael Stewart, 31, and Nathan Odgers, 36, tied up Smith, who mistreated young Tony Hudgell with his girlfriend Jody Simpson, and attacked him with the handmade weapons. After collecting his breakfast, the two hit Smith again with their homemade weapons and bound him to his cell bed.
Smith, a child abuser, may be eligible for a taxpayer-funded compensation since he was the victim of an assault while incarcerated. He might file a claim for both bodily and mental harm.
During the incident, prisoners yelled that Smith ought to lose his legs and threatened to ‘cut off his legs,’ referring to the heinous abuse he did on his kid.
Tony was just four months old when he was exposed to heinous mistreatment at the couple’s Maidstone, Kent, flat in 2014. As a result of the injuries, the boy, now seven, lost both legs, and his lobbying with adopted mother Paula resulted in a recent legislative amendment, nicknamed Tony’s Law, which may see abusers imprisoned until the end of life. Stewart and Odgers allegedly encouraged Smith to go forward with their hostage-taking scheme in order to be relocated from the infamous category B jail known as ‘Stabside.’
Later, both defendants asserted Smith volunteered, but he denied it. As the two sought to meet with a governor, a closet was shoved over the entrance and the surveillance panel was jammed with toilet paper.
Stewart and Odgers were first unaware of Smith’s infamous actions until another convict identified him.
Stewart, who was serving a ten-year sentence for severe assault, and Nathan Odgers, who was serving a ten-and-a-half-year sentence for a string of burglaries, then shut themselves in after tying Smith to the bed. ‘He should have his legs hacked off,’ said one prisoner.
Smith required medical treatment for several tooth fractures and bruises as a result of the vicious attack, which left the tuna tins ‘badly damaged.’.
The two-hour experience occurred in August 2018, only six months after Smith and Simpson were sentenced for their maltreatment, yet it would take another 19 months for the CPS to approve charges.
The delay was deemed “exceptional and unreasonable” by a judge at Maidstone Crown Court today, who reduced their sentences by a year.
Stewart, who had ties to Bedford, was sentenced to eight years and five months in prison, while Odgers, a father of four from Hastings, East Sussex, was sentenced to nine years and six months. Both individuals pleaded guilty to counts of false imprisonment and attack resulting in actual bodily injury.
Smith required 12 teeth replaced, according to Judge Jeremy Donne QC, despite the fact that the couple were not liable for all of the damage.
He said that the purpose for the assault was not vengeance, but rather a craving to move to an alternate prison. Stewart was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison, while Odgers was sentenced to four years and six months.
The judge then determined that when the two are freed after completing two-thirds of their prison sentences, they would have to serve another five years on probation.
Little Tony’s ordeal at the hands of his parents sparked national indignation since his wounds, which included a hip dislocation and head trauma, were so severe that the toddler had surgery to amputate both legs at the knee.
He has now learned to walk on prosthetic legs and raised over £1.2 million during lockdown for the NHS and the hospital that saved his life.
