Teen murderer who felt 'no point to life' stabbed inmate at Leeds prison with sharpened toothbrush
Savage gang assault came months after being handed life sentence
A teenager jailed for murder formed part of a prison gang attack in which a fellow inmate was stabbed with makeshift knives.
Jordan Rance joined in with the bloody assault in the exercise yard at YOI Wetherby.
The 19-year-old then sparked another fight months later in a classroom in which the victim was attacked with improvised weapons.
Drug dealer Rance, who is from the Lancashire area, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years in 2024.
He was found guilty of murdering one of his drug customers near Manchester, stabbing him in the shoulder and leaving him to die after a petty argument.
Rance was just 16 at the time of the killing. He was sent to the young offender institute in Wetherby to begin his sentence.
Three months later, on August 8, 2024, he was part of the gang assault in the exercise yard, Leeds Crown Court heard.
Caught on CCTV, it showed Rance and three others in the open space surround the victim and then launch at him with sharpened toothbrushes.
When he fell to the ground, they then began kicking and stamping on his head. No guards were in the yard to break up the attack.
They were eventually able to rescue the stricken inmate, who suffered puncture wounds across his body.
Rance gave a no-comment interview.
But in December 2024 he was involved in another altercation in which he threw a punch at another inmate during a maths lesson. Others joined in using weapons including a deodorant in a sock and a toilet handle wrapped in a sock.
Rance later admitted charges of GBH with intent and GBH without intent.
Mitigating, Sean Smith said Rance came to YOI Wetherby with an attitude that there was “no point in life” and there were “no consequences”, having been given such a lengthy life sentence.
He said Rance was told that the he needed to “join a group” when he arrived “for his own protection”.
Mr Smith added: “When his group was threatened there were reprisals.”
He said Rance has since been removed from Wetherby and is now at HMP Stoke Heath in Shropshire, where an older inmate has taken him under his wing and given him a “significant amount of wisdom”.
Mr Smith added: “There is a life for him on the outside and he needs to prepare for it. He really struggled to come to terms with the murder sentence.
“He understands there is some future, albeit, not for some time.”
Judge Richard Mansell KC gave him a consecutive two-year sentence, which means it will only start once he has completed his 21-year minimum sentence for murder.