A prisoner has been awarded £1,400 in compensation after he was bitten by a prison officer during a brawl.

David Hay was being moved to a new prison but had refused to leave Perth jail in Scotland without his quilt and in the ensuing argument was pinned to the floor and bitten in the back.

As a result of the incident, which left Hay with a bitemark for a fortnight, the Scottish Prison Service was ordered to pay the compensation on behalf of prison officer Kenny Kinnear, who carried out the act.

Hay, who served a seven-year term for culpable homicide, was cleared of a breach of the peace after he was accused of threatening Kinnear in the street after his eventual release from jail.

Earlier this week, a man who suffered a stroke after developing a drugs habit in jail was awarded compensation.

Ellis Sherwood had been wrongly convicted of murder and was awarded £1.4 million for what happened to him following the quashing of his conviction.

A man has been awarded £1.4 million in compensation after suffering a stroke following his wrongful imprisonment for murder.

Ellis Sherwood had spent 11 years in jail after being convicted of murdering a Cardiff newsagent in 1988.

The compensation was awarded to him by the Home Office after it was proven in court that his stroke was a direct result of the drug abuse he took part in during his time in prison, reports the South Wales Echo.

Mr Sherwood has previously been given compensation by the South Wales Police for the miscarriage of justice he suffered.

In October 2006 he received £200,000 from the police force after his conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal.

Last week, the Lowestoft Journal reported that Suffolk Constabulary have paid out almost £600,000 in compensation claims against them in the past five years.

The claims included cases of wrongful arrest, physical injury and damage to property.