Danny Smith, 34, threw a kettle of boiling water mixed with sugar over his cellmate in 2023 – he was found dead in his prison cell last month
A prisoner who launched a vicious attack on his sleeping cellmate by dousing him with boiling water from a kettle has died behind bars.
Danny Smith, 34, carried out the assault at HMP Altcourse in July 2023, throwing a kettle of boiling water mixed with sugar over the victim – what is known as “prison napalm”. The attack came after a row over a vape and left the man screaming in pain after being burned on his arm and neck.
The victim later said he “realised he had been swilled” when he spotted a kettle lying on its side on a table, with traces of sugar still visible. He was rushed to Whiston Hospital in the early hours, where he was treated and left with “light scarring” to his upper arm as well as hearing problems caused by a perforated eardrum.
Prison officers intervened to break up the altercation, during which Smith had earlier shouted “he’s going to kill me”. He later admitted to guards that he attacked the man “because he wouldn’t let him use his vape”.
Smith was jailed for 16 months after admitting one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He was later transferred to category C HMP Risley near Warrington. On November 27, Smith was found unresponsive in his cell by prison staff.
Paramedics were called to attend the prison but he was pronounced dead, Liverpool Echo reports.
An inquest opened at Cheshire Coroners’ Court and found Smith’s cause of death to be “unnatural”. A full inquest was listed for October next year. An investigation was launched by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman following Smith’s death.
A spokesperson said: “The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman is conducting an independent investigation into the death of Danny Smith at HMP Risley on 27 November 2025. We offer our condolences to Mr Smith’s family and friends.”
A Prison Service spokesperson said: “HMP Risley prisoner Danny Smith died on Thursday 27 November. As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will investigate.”
Smith’s counsel told the court during his assault sentencing in July this year: “There was something on his record, perhaps suggesting that he should not have been in the same cell as anybody else, as far back as 2017. He was very unwell and was medicated soon after this incident.”
Sentencing, Judge David Swinnerton said: “There was some sort of argument about a vape. You are somebody who finds it difficult to share a cell. It has been recognised that you have should not have been sharing a cell.
“I do infer that you were suffering from some form of psychotic condition at the time. You have 123 previous offences on your record from 65 previous convictions. It is an aggravating feature that you committed this while in prison. It is a mitigating feature that it happened two years ago now.”
