A SOLICITOR is calling for a public inquiry to prevent deaths like those of a Newport prisoner found butchered in his cell.

Six prison officers who discovered Colin Bloomfield's mutilated body won compensation from the Home Office yesterday. The settlement is believed to be more than £1 million in damages and legal fees.

Last January the Home Office admitted liability just before a trial was due to start.

Bloomfield, 35, was serving a six-month sentence at Cardiff prison when his violent, psychopathic cell mate attacked him in April 2000.

Cardiff county court heard Jason Ricketts, then 29 and serving five years for burglary, cut up his victim and removed body parts. Bloomfield's offence cannot be revealed for legal reasons.

Ricketts pleaded guilty at Newport crown court in February 2001 to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility after saying he had been "told by voices" to kill Bloomfield. He was sentenced to be detained at Ashworth High Security Hospital, Liverpool, for an unlimited time.

Nigel Cooksley, QC, representing the six officers at the county court, described to Mr Justice Field how Ricketts mutilated Bloomfield. Ricketts told staff he had killed his cellmate.

The six officers were confronted with a "horrific sight", the court was told, andMr Cooksley said all suffered psychiatric injuries.

Three - Michael Wakeham, 46, Nigel Thomas, 47, and Darren Godbear, 44 - still work for the Prison Service. The others - Paul Evans, 38, Gerald Williams, 48, and Alan Hunt, 42 - have left.

John Waite, for the Home Office, admitted it was a "deeply unfortunate and dreadful incident".

Outside court, the solicitor representing the officers, Frank Rogers, of Lees Lloyd Whitley Solicitors, said: "There should be a public inquiry into this case and the wider issue of how society deals with the mentally disordered, violent offenders dumped in prison.

"It (the Prison Service) is underfunded and there is currently no viable strategy for dealing with inmates suffering from untreatable, acute personality disorders."

Mr Bloomfield's mother, Eileen, called for the governor to resign after hearing details in court of her son's death.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons said after an inspection in 2001: "There had been significant changes in helping the mentally disturbed in the prison."