Neff Pritchard pleads guilty to punching and stomping officer

An inmate who punched and stomped on the head of an unsuspecting prison officer was unable to offer a rational explanation for his offending.

Neff Pritchard. Picture: Supplied

An inmate unleashed a brutal and unprovoked assault on a custodial officer and stomped on his head, leaving a shoe print on the victim’s face.

Neff Pritchard, 25, was serving a jail sentence for violence-related offending at Barwon Prison and had two months left on his sentence when he committed the assault on August 23, 2022.

The Seymour man pleaded guilty in the County Court in Geelong on Wednesday to one charge of causing injury intentionally.

Pritchard’s defence counsel, Ashlea Adammo said her client was unable to provide any explanation for the offending other than the fact he was feeling frustrated and overwhelmed at his situation as he did not know how many days he had left on his sentence.

Judge Mark Gamble said it was hard to fathom why Pritchard engaged in the conduct, considering how close he was to release.

Crown Prosecutor Richard Pirrie said at about 8.15am on August 23, last year, Pritchard was in line to receive medication when without warning he punched the officer to his face.

CCTV footage from the prison, which was played in court, showed Pritchard punching the victim, causing him to fall to the ground unconscious.

Pritchard is then seen punching the victim to the head a number of times, before stomping on his head.

Several seconds after the incident multiple prison officers took Pritchard to the ground.

The victim was taken to hospital and had no recollection of the incident.

Mr Pirrie said the victim made a statement to police and noted that he was suffering from headaches and head pain, swelling to his face, bruising to his left eye, bruising to his right upper arm and soreness in his lower back.

Ms Adammo said her client had suffered from drug and alcohol abuse over the past eight years and expressed remorse for his actions.

Judge Gamble said Ms Adammo's’ submissions as to why Pritchard assaulted the custodial officer did not come remotely close to a sensible explanation.

Judge Gamble said the offending was unfathomable and described it as “unbridled, unprovoked nasty aggression on a completely innocent victim who has been significantly impacted”.

Pritchard is currently in custody at the Metropolitan Remand Centre and will be sentenced on September 19.

Originally published as Neff Pritchard pleads guilty to punching and stomping officer