STEPS have been taken after a murderer ended up coming face to face with his victim's cousin in jail.

The Leader reported in recent weeks on the sentencing of Oliver Wilkinson, of Ffordd Llandygai in Llandygai, and Dayle Owens, who gave his address as HMP Parc.

Both men admitted one offence of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, which took place at HMP Berwyn on February 27 last year, against now convicted murderer Jamie Mitchell.

Both men set upon him as he made his way to a workshop in the prison.

Mitchell ended up curled in a ball on the floor as the defendants kicked, punched and stamped on his head and body.

Officers who caught sight of the incident heard one of the defendants shouting "murderer" and described the intensity of the assault as "horrendous."

Mitchell had murdered Wilkinson's cousin, and at Wrexham Magistrates when the defendants entered their guilty pleas Ceri Lewis, defending Wilkinson, said: "There is some history, so to speak.

"But this was a chance encounter; at no point should either of the defendants have had any contact with the complainant.

"Mr Wilkinson had made the prison aware and there was paperwork in place to stop them having any contact."

We asked the Prison Service how Mitchell and the defendants were able to meet in the prison, given the apparent precautions taken to prevent such an occurrence, and what has been done since to prevent such an incident happening again.

A spokesman responded: "Prisoners who are violent can face tough punishments including extra time behind bars.”

The Prison Service also added by way of guidance: "We have updated our systems to avoid a similar situation from happening again."

Wilkinson, 33, received a suspended sentence for his part in the offence, but 33-year-old Owens received more jail time to be served on top of his ongoing sentence.

Alexandra Carrier, defending Wilkinson, said at his sentencing hearing: "He (Wilkinson) made it clear to the prison he shouldn't have been near Mr Mitchell."

But, Ms Carrier said, a mistake had been made which saw the two come face-to-face.

"That's not an excuse for the behaviour," she added.