Nicholas Chircop, Karl Sheehan stabbed fellow inmate in Barwon Prison attack

Two Barwon Prison inmates stabbed a 23-year-old man 15 times in a violent attack over a disagreement which “got out of hand”.

Nicholas Chircop. Picture: Facebook

Two prisoners stabbed another man 15 times during a violent jailhouse attack after a disagreement “got out of hand”.

Nicholas Chircop, 29, and Karl Sheehan, 37, orchestrated the assault against fellow prisoner Kylie Beattie at Barwon Prison on April 1 last year.

Beattie, a convicted carjacker, was rushed to hospital in a critical condition with a punctured lung after he was stabbed multiple times to his upper body, back, and legs.

Chircop and Sheehan faced Geelong Magistrates Court on Monday where they pleaded guilty to charges including affray and assault.

The court heard Beattie was walking in the common area outside the jail when he was set upon by Chircop and Sheehan who then kicked and stabbed him multiple times.

Police prosecutor Constable Alex Turner said the incident started about 1.29pm when Sheehan decided to attack Beattie.

Constable Turner said Chircopjoined in the assault while Sheehan stabbed the victim in the back with a metal rivet.

Beattie was then kicked in the head as he tried to flee the scene.

Footage played to the court showed prison officers rushing to the victim’s aid as the men were handcuffed and escorted away.

The court heard guards used OC spray to subdue the offenders.

Beattie, 23, has convictions for carjacking, ramming a police car, home break-ins, drug offences, car theft, driving matters, weapons breaches and committing indictable offences while on bail.

In one crime wave, he and a mate ploughed a stolen car into a police vehicle to avoid arrest and dragged a woman from her car to steal it.

Magistrate Michelle Hodgson labelled the assault by Chircop and Sheehan as “objectively serious offending” with “a high degree of harm”.

“There was some premiedation in relation to the victim in this matter,” she said.

Ms Hodgson told the court Chircopand Sheehan were both already behind bars for serious offending.

“Both of you have spent extensive periods of time in prison,” she said.

Ms Hodgson indicated that she would sentence Chircop and Sheehan to a term of imprisonment and said the prevalence of violence in jail is significant.

The pair will be sentenced on Thursday.

Originally published as Nicholas Chircop, Karl Sheehan stabbed fellow inmate in Barwon Prison attack