A prisoner has gone on trial accused of biting and kicking prison officers during a violent incident at a Norfolk jail. 

Thierry Mpia, 36, is said to have attacked three officers at HMP Wayland as they attempted to search him for an illicit mobile phone. 

Norwich Crown Court was told the incident dated back to September 2020 when the prison was still affected by the Covid pandemic.  

Mpia, originally from Hertfordshire and who is no longer a serving prisoner at Wayland, denies three counts of assaulting emergency workers.

Eastern Daily Press: Officers were bitten and kicked during the search for an illicit phone, a court has heardOfficers were bitten and kicked during the search for an illicit phone, a court has heard (Image: Newsquest)

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Jude Durr, prosecuting, told a jury of six men and six women that he had been told to keep his hands in sight by officers who feared he was attempting to hide a small phone on his person during an early morning search.

“That led to him resisting quite vigorously and as you can see he is quite a big man,” he added.

Two officers had been bitten resulting in significant bite marks while a third had been kicked to the head and face, the court heard.

The trial continues.