A man accused of the murder of a young woman has been robbed and assaulted at HMP Liverpool in Walton.
Lawrence Johnson, 26, was charged with the murder of Alisha Samuels and the attempted murder of a man following an incident in Manchester on October 15.
Police officers were called to Dorking Avenue in the Newton Heath area at around 2am and found Ms Samuels, 26, with multiple stab wounds and pronounced her dead at the scene.
Johnson, of Dorking Avenue, was later arrested by armed officers on Galsworthy Avenue in Bootle on October 19. He was charged and remanded in custody following his appearance at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on October 21.
It’s since been revealed that Johnson was assaulted and robbed inside HMP Liverpool prison over the weekend.
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In a video widely shared online, Johnson, wearing a grey prison-issue tracksuit, was filmed inside a prison cell surrounded by a number of other inmates.
The person filming the exchange was heard saying: ‘Bro, you’re getting chopped up. Sit down, bro. Smash him up.’
An unidentified prisoner then punched Johnson several times before the man filming the assault said: ‘Take his s*** off him.’
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice told the Liverpool Echo: ‘Violence will not be tolerated in the prison estate, and this incident was swiftly dealt with.
‘Having a phone behind bars is unacceptable and we have ordered the immediate removal of these posts while investigating how this was able to happen.’
Two other men – Carl Hardy, 19 and of Shaldon Drive in Manchester, and Tony Evans, 19 and of Dorking Avenue – were charged with murder of Ms Samuels and attempted murder. Both were also remanded in custody and appeared at magistrates’ court on October 23.
Greater Manchester Police Detective Chief Inspector Justin Bryant, the senior investigating officer, said: “We are working tirelessly to establish the full circumstances of this attack, and to provide Alisha’s family with some answers. My thoughts remain with them as they navigate this tremendous loss.”
Ms Samuels’ friend Carris Mallon said last week: ‘She was taken far too soon, in such a horrific way. The world was too evil for her. She was the most precious soul in the whole entire world, not a person she met who could say anything bad.’
A fundraiser, set up to help Ms Samuels’ parents, had raised nearly £16,500 of its £20,000 target at the time of writing.