A FORMER inmate is in line to receive a massive payout after successfully suing prison bosses for failing to protect him from a racist attack behind bars.
Daniel Kaizer, a Polish national, was the victim of a murder bid by fellow inmate Keith Porter, who attacked him in Craiginches prison in Aberdeen by smashing his skull with a bar bell.
Porter, 29, was later given a life sentence for the racially aggravated offence.
Porter had admitted the attempted murder of another Polish national, Jaroslaw Janecek, in a horrific assault with a mop handle days before the gym attack on Mr Kaizer in December, 2009.
Mr Kaizer, 35, raised an action suing the Scottish Government for £900,000 following the attempted murder.
Now a judge at the Court of Session has now found that the Scottish Prison Service failed in their duty of care to him.
A separate hearing will be heard later to decide the amount of damages he will receive. Mr Kaizer told the court in an earlier incident Porter had threatened him and was swearing at him about a week before the attack in the jail gym.
He told a prison officer, Gary Lumsden, about the threat but he did not report it to bosses at the prison. In a written judgment, Lord Ericht said it was likely the attack would not have happened if the threat had been flagged up.
He said: “Mr Porter made a specific threat to smash the pursuer’s face in. The pursuer informed Mr Lumsden of the threat. Mr Lumsden should have reported the threat, but he failed to do so.
“Mr Lumsden did not take reasonable care to prevent the implementation of the threat by reporting it. It was reasonably foreseeable that the pursuer was likely to sustain damage to his person if such reasonable care was not taken.
“Had Mr Lumsden reported the threat, on the balance of probabilities the attempted murder would not have taken place. I find in favour of the pursuer in relation to liability.”
A Scottish Prison Service spokeswoman said: “We have received the judgment and are considering the outcome. It would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage.”
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