Overview
- Teesside Crown Court sentenced the 36-year-old to life with a minimum term of 15 years for attempting to murder fellow prisoner Michael Mullaney.
- Prosecutors said he struck Mullaney four times in the head with a concealed claw hammer in HMP Frankland’s workshop on May 10, 2024.
- The victim sustained skull fractures and bleeding on the brain, spent four nights at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary, then returned to custody.
- Judge Francis Laird said Bendall is already serving a whole-life order for the 2021 Killamarsh murders, making release highly unlikely.
- Defense counsel cited a diagnosis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy as mitigation, and officers testified the assault ended when a baton was drawn.