Trial date set for prison hammer-attack suspect
A trial date has been set for a man accused of attempting to murder an inmate with a hammer at a maximum security prison.
Damien Bendall, 35, formerly of Killamarsh, Derbyshire, has been charged with attacking the fellow prisoner at HMP Frankland in Durham in May 2024.
Bendall did not appear at Teesside Crown Court for the hearing, which took place before Judge Francis Laird KC.
The judge set a provisional trial date for 9 March 2026, while a case management hearing will be held on 29 September this year.
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