Three inmates have been convicted of murder after using homemade weapons to kill and attempt to behead a fellow prisoner.

Taras Nykolyn was brutally attacked and killed in an exercise yard at HMP Woodhill prison in Milton Keynes on 5 June.

Stephen Boorman, 34, was found guilty of murder by a jury at the Old Bailey.

Jibreel Raheem, 27, admitted killing the 49-year-old Ukranian and 33-year-old James Brabbs also pleaded guilty.

All three will be sentenced on Tuesday.


Boorman launched the attack by punching Mr Nykolyn in the face, knocking him unconscious before he fell to the ground, prosecutor Amjad Malik QC said.

The men then used homemade "shanks" to slash his body and repeatedly kick and stamp on him before attempting to behead him with a torn bed sheet in the pre-planned attack.

The defendants had smuggled one of the weapons into the yard in a rolled-up jumper which was not checked by prison guards, and the other was hidden between two pairs of underwear.

CCTV and handheld cameras captured the attack, which took place in front of prison guards.

The men wanted to kill Mr Nykolyn to demonstrate that they were "untouchable", the jury was told.

They were arrested after handing over the weapons made from a miswak stick, used for teeth cleaning, and a pencil with razor blades attached to the ends.

Boorman, who had been serving a sentence for attempted murder, claimed he had been acting in self defence.

Brabbs, who was in jail for murder and attempted murder on another inmate, told officers it was all captured on CCTV so "it's not as if I can deny it".

Raheem was serving a sentence for an attempted murder while Mr Nykolyn was in prison for a manslaughter conviction.

Detective Superintendent Ailsa Kent, of Thames Valley Police, said: "Boorman, Brabbs and Raheem clearly planned to target their victim and subjected him to a vicious and sustained attack using weapons they had fashioned themselves.

"I am satisfied that these men have been found guilty and our thoughts remain with the family of Mr Nykolyn."