Prisoner from Portsmouth denies taking part in mutiny riot

John Udy, 38, from Portsmouth is one of five prisoners on trial for prison mutiny at Hove Crown Court.

One of his co-defendants, threatened to gouge out the eyes of guards with a pool cue during a six-hour cell block riot, the court heard.

Ross Macpherson had been lying on a pool table when recreation time came to an end in C Wing at HMP Lewes, East Sussex, around 10am on October 29 2016.

When guards asked him to hand back the cue and return to his cell, he refused, jurors were told.

Officers feared for their own safety and retreated from the wing, the court heard.

Udy, along with Macpherson, 28, currently at HMP Belmarsh, Steven Goodwin, 29, of Hastings, Shane Simpson, 30, of Totton, Southampton, and David Carlin, 26, of Kirton, Nottinghamshire, all deny prison mutiny.

The trial, expected to last to last up to five weeks, continues.