A man who attacked a corrections officer when he was housed as an inmate at the Massachusetts Correctional Institute in Shirley in 2022 pled guilty Friday, according to the Middlesex District Attorney's Office.
The attack left the corrections officer at the facility fighting for his life and set off a push for stronger safety measures at state prison facilities.
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Roy Booth, 42, pled guilty to mayhem and armed assault with intent to murder in Middlesex Superior Court. He was sentenced to 13 to 15 years in prison, to be served consecutively with a life sentence he is serving in Virginia for murder.
Prosecutors say Booth used a metal pole that he took from the weight room to beat Corrections Officer Matthew Tidman, attacking him from behind. Booth did not stop until he was physically forced to by other officers.
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Booth had been transferred to Massachusetts from Virginia in 2021. He was transferred back to a Virginia state prison after the attack.
NBC10 Boston learned while in prison in Virginia, Booth earned a lengthy disciplinary record comprised of 60 offenses, including a violent assault on another inmate. In January of last year, citing his poor adjustment, the Virginia Department of Corrections recommended he be transferred to an out-of-state prison. He was put into MCI-Shirley, which is medium security.
Tidman survived the attack, though he is now permanently disabled with a traumatic brain injury and other medical concerns. He and his family have been active in pushing for stricter safety regulations at prisons, a call echoed by the union that represents corrections officers in the state.
More recently, the union has called for the Department of Correction to make changes after a stabbing at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley on Sept. 18. Two officers suffered stab wounds and three others were also hurt in the assault, allegedly at the hands of inmates in the facility.
