Potato row inmate guilty of threats to prison staff

Nicholas Brock was already serving a prison sentence when he made the threats to staff

An inmate who threatened to shoot a prison officer because he was unhappy about being served a jacket potato for lunch has been sentenced to a further two years in jail.

Nicholas Brock, from Maidenhead, Berkshire, made the threat at HMP Bullingdon in Oxfordshire and also hurled abuse at his probation officer during a separate incident in 2024.

He was found guilty following a trial at Oxford Crown Court of two counts of threatening to kill prison staff.

The 57-year-old was already in prison after being jailed in March 2021 for three counts of possession of a document likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

The court previously heard that Brock was a far-right sympathiser who had "very strong issues with jacket potatoes".

Giving evidence, prison officer Oliver Kelly, said: "Mr Brock would get quite angry if there was something wrong with his food.

"He has dietary requirements and sometimes the kitchen makes mistakes. He would complain about this to the senior prison officer, Mr Christopher English.

"But at the time, as we are trying to control 180 prisoners to get their lunch, Mr English didn't have time to speak to Mr Brock and that made Mr Brock angry."

Brock was alleged to have said: "I will put a 9mm to the back of his head. Don't think I won't do it."

'Aggressive behaviour'

Emma Gargitter, prosecuting, said Mr Brock claimed he owned deactivated firearms and "knew people who could reactivate them".

She told the jury the defendant was also hostile towards his assigned probation officer Saiqa Yasmin "in part because of her race".

She added Mr Brock complained to another probation officer at the prison that Ms Yasmin "would not let him do anything after release" and that she was being racist towards him.

When the probation officer told him she would inquire about his concerns, he allegedly asked: "Are you going to shoot her?"

Ch Supt Claire Finlay, head of counter terrorism policing in the south east, said: "Brock's behaviour has demonstrated that his extreme right-wing mindset did not diminish during his time spent in prison and his aggressive behaviour was escalating as his prison release date approached."