HMP Peterborough prisoner labelled as 'significant risk to the public' after taking fellow inmate hostage with weapon
A prisoner at HMP Peterborough has been labelled ‘a significant risk’ to members of the public after he took a fellow inmate hostage, Police have said.
Cambridgeshire Police said that Robert Kinneir, 45, went to the cell of the inmate at HMP Peterborough at about 11am on 28 February 2023 and lured him in by asking him to check some paperwork.
A police spokesperson said: “When the victim turned up, Kinneir locked the door, threatened him with an improvised weapon and told him: “I’ve taken you hostage, if you don’t do as I say, I will kill you. I’m going to tie your hands behind your back so they know it’s real.”
“He then pressed the intercom and told the operator he had taken a hostage.
“Prison officers arrived but Kinneir told them to shut the door or he would slash the victim's throat.
“He continued to make threats, including to murder the victim, if anyone entered the cell.
“Negotiators worked with Kinneir while he put a cover over an observation window and started fires in the cell as well as holding the weapon to the victim’s throat.
“After about four hours, a specialist team in prison hostage situations eventually got him and the hostage safely out of the cell without injury to anyone.
“Kinneir said he took the victim hostage because he wasn’t receiving support and medication for his mental health issues.
“The victim has since suffered from psychological trauma.”
On Thursday (21 May), at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court acting as a crown court, Kinneir, of HMP Swaleside, on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, had his jail sentence extended by nine years and five months having pleaded guilty to false imprisonment at an earlier hearing.
He had been previously convicted of stalking and possession of class B drugs in November 2022 at Northampton Crown Court.
Sentencing Kinneir, Judge Paul Brooks, said he posed a “significant risk of causing serious harm to members of the public.”
DC Kevin Poole, who investigated, said: “I think the judge’s sentencing remarks about Kinneir speak for themselves.
“What Kinneir did that day was reckless and a disproportionate response to him wanting help with his mental health.
“The victim has been left with lots of trauma following his horrific ordeal so I’m glad Kinneir has had his sentence extended.”