An inmate at a Suffolk prison has been jailed for 30 weeks after biting a prison officer on the arm and assaulting another officer by grabbing his bottom.

Timothy Cole, who was serving a sentence for robbery at Highpoint prison, was in his cell when a prison officer entered the room to carry out an accommodation check, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

When he finished the check he thanked Cole and the defendant replied: “You’re welcome darling” before grabbing the officer’s bottom, said Matthew Morgan, prosecuting.

Cole was moved to a segregation unit and the following day he had lunged at another officer and bit him on the lower arm piercing the skin.

Cole, 45, of no fixed address, admitted two offences of assault on an emergency worker on consecutive days in April last year and was jailed for 12 weeks for one of the offences with 18 weeks to be served consecutively for the second assault.

Peter Spary for Cole said his client suffered from drug induced psychosis and had committed the offences after consuming the drug “Spice”.

He said Cole, who has 93 previous convictions, had stayed off drugs since the second incident and was sorry for his behaviour.