Wetherby YOI is 'like the Wild West', says judge, after 'frenzied' sharpened toothbrush attacks
One of the attacks was described by an officer as ‘relentless, frenzied and quite shocking to see’
A judge has said a Leeds young offender’s institute has become like “the Wild West” after three teenagers were sentenced for attacks using makeshift weapons.
Bobby Caster, Kai Beattie and Niall Farmer, all 18, appeared at Leeds Crown Court on Friday (July 3) charged with separate incidents of wounding with intent while serving time at Wetherby Young Offenders Institute. Caster was also sentenced for two charges of burglary that were committed after he was released from the prison.
The first attack happened on October 16, 2024, and involved Farmer and Caster. For the prosecution, Giles Grant said it happened after a gym session when the two men and a third attacked another inmate with “kicks and stabs” using sharpened toothbrushes.
The victim suffered wounds to his back, body, head and neck.
The second attack happened on February 1, 2025, when Caster and Beattie assisted in attacking another inmate as he entered his cell.
Mr Grant said: “Officers described it as relentless, frenzied and quite shocking to see.”
The third attack involved Caster attacking another inmate in the visitor’s hall. Officers noticed Caster “repeatedly looking at the victim” and “suspected something was going on”.
Caster pulled out a sharpened toothbrush from his waist band and began stabbing the man to his head and body.
The final charges dealt with involved two separate burglaries by Caster in October 2025, when he and a friend stole a Honda Jazz and “drove it away and damaged it” before stealing a Toyota Yaris the next day.
His Honour Judge Richard Mansell KC said that he has carried out numerous sentences involving young men attacking each other at Wetherby YOI and has more scheduled in the coming weeks.
He said: “Frankly, from what I have seen and heard in Wetherby it almost feels like it is the Wild West at the moment.
“It is dog eat dog. You have to watch your back. You have to be part of a group to protect yourself. It’s appalling.
“Every single bit of footage goes on for a minute before an officer is at the scene. It’s shocking.
“There are periods when they are waiting for other officers to intervene.
“It really is quite worrying and disturbing that those levels of violence are going on in a young offenders institute.”
Responding to the judge’s comments, defence counsellor Michael Greenhalgh said: “It’s endemic.”
He also said that since the men had been moved to Doncaster prison they had been coping better, with Beattie taking part in educational courses and having “massively improved since the Wetherby days”. Farmer was also doing courses and looking to work in traffic management.
Judge Mansell KC said: “It has to be a staffing issue.”
It was heard that all three men came from difficult backgrounds, with Beattie having “no father figure” while growing up and suffering PTSD from a targeted shooting.
Caster was sentenced to four years for the charges, while Farmer received two years and Beattie was given a suspended sentence of 12 months.
The latest sentence comes after a report released by the HM Chief Inspector of Prisons in February found high levels of violence, frequent weapon discoveries, and weak staff-child relationships at Wetherby.
In June the Independent Monitoring Boards (IMBs) of prisons and YOIs found a deeply-concerning trend of young inmate carrying weapons at Wetherby.
The Evening Post previously contacted the Ministry of Justice for a response about the issues of weapons being used at the prison.
A spokesman said: “Our hard-working staff are trained to work in some of the most challenging environments, but we must keep clamping down on violence across the crisis-hit prisons estate we inherited.
“While more must be done, a three-year plan is in place to improve HMP Wetherby and this year inspectors have noted the impact of strong leadership in delivering a more stable regime."