Damien Bendall, 36, attempted to murder a fellow HMP Frankland inmate in order to get a transfer to a segregation unit
15:53, 23 Feb 2026Updated 16:45, 23 Feb 2026
Damien Bendall (Image: PA)
A quadruple murderer and rapist tried to kill a fellow prison inmate in a brutal hammer attack while locked up in a North East jail. Damien Bendall knocked the inmate immediately unconscious after slamming a claw hammer into his head, and continued to rain down blows as the victim lay motionless.
When stunned prison staff restrained him and asked why he carried out the attack, Bendall replied: “I don’t know.” However, a court heard that Bendall had planned the attempted murder and carried it out in order to get transferred to a segregation unit.
In 2022, Bendall was jailed with a whole life order for carrying out a series of killings in Derbyshire – also with a hammer – which came to be known as the Killamarsh murders. Bendall murdered his partner Terri Harris, 35, her two children Lacey, 11, and John-Paul Bennet, 13, as well as Lacey’s friend Connie Gent, 11. Bendall also admitted to raping Lacey, the Mirror previously reported.
Hammer attack
After receiving his sentence, Bendall, 36, was serving his sentence at the high-security HMP Frankland in County Durham. But on May 10, 2024, he carried out a horrifying hammer attack on a fellow inmate in an attempt to get transferred to a segregation unit.
Jolyon Perks, prosecuting, told Teesside Crown Court on Monday that Bendall and the victim were on “friendly terms” and were often seen playing dominoes together. On the day of the attempted murder, the pair were in the prison’s workshop when Bendall armed himself with a claw hammer.
Mr Perks said: “[The victim] can recall nothing further until regaining consciousness on the floor. The attack was perpetrated by the defendant and witnessed by prison staff. An officer had become aware that the defendant had stopped to speak with the [victim].
“As the conversation continued, the officer saw the defendant swing a claw hammer with full force. The blow made contact to his head from behind, rendering him unconscious and slumped in his chair. [Bendall] struck another three blows to his head, each with full force.”
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Victim bleeding heavily
Bendall then dropped the hammer and raised his arms as the prison officer apprehended and handcuffed him. Asked why he carried out the attack, Bendall replied: “I don’t know.”
The victim lay motionless on the floor and was bleeding heavily from his head. The court heard that due to the ferocity of the attack, the prison officer believed the man was dead. But the victim survived and was taken to Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary to be treated for two skull fractures. He remained in hospital for four nights before returning to prison.
Bendall, who is now housed in HMP Wakefield, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and appeared at court via link from the prison’s segregation unit. The court heard he had four previous convictions for 12 offences, including four offences of murder and one of rape of a child under 13. He also had previous robbery, assault and arson offences on his record.
Bendall ‘apologises’
Vanessa Marshall KC, defending, said Bendall admitted the offence and deserved credit for that. She said: “He accepts it’s something he did having actively made the decision to commit the offence so he could engineer a transfer to the segregation unit of the prison.”
Ms Marshall said that Bendall has a degenerative condition which causes dementia. She added: “He has no contempt for the complainant despite what he did. There is evidence they were friends. He regrets the offence and apologises.”
Sentencing Bendall, Judge Francis Laird KC said the attempted murder was “pre-meditated and planned”. He sentenced him to life in prison, with a minimum term for 15 years. Due to the whole life order he is already serving, the judge said it is likely he will never be released.
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