A thug who tried to kill another inmate at a young offenders' institution in Rochester has been locked up indefinitely.

Samuel Hall made a weapon with a blade before luring Lewis Bennett to his cell and slashing at his throat.

Hall, 20, was told by a judge he would not be considered for release until he had served a minimum of five-and-a-half years.

Maidstone Crown Court heard Hall - also known as Samuel James - was serving a sentence on the same wing as the victim.

Hall approached Mr Bennett on October 25 last year and asked him if he wanted to buy some cannabis.

They went to Bennett's cell to complete the deal and it was then that Hall pulled the weapon from his waistband, slashing at Mr Bennett's neck.

Hall stopped and told the victim to tell prison officers his injuries were self-inflicted.

When officers went into the cell, they found Mr Bennett bleeding from his ear and throat. The injuries did not prove to be serious.

Hall, of International Way, Weston, Southampton, admitted attempted murder.

He claimed Mr Bennett had been "stirring up things" with other inmates and it made him increasingly angry and he decided he had to kill him.

Edmund Burge, prosecuting, said Hall had been sentenced to three years' youth custody in 2009 for attempted robbery.

He had told an earlier hearing that Hall had been hearing voices and he believed if he silenced Mr Bennett, he would silence the voice.

Samuel Hall was an inmate at Rochester Young Offenders' Instiution

Mark Dacey, defending, said Hall had a difficult childhood and ended up at Rochester an angry young man.

He had since been transferred to Elmley Prison, in Sheppey.

Mr Dacey said: "He got himself worked up into a frenzy."

Judge Charles Byers said Hall had an appalling record for attacking people - having hit others in prison and people in authority.

He said: "You intended to kill another human being. Had the wounds gone deeper, you could have been facing quite a different charge."

The judge said if he had passed a determinate sentence, it would have been one of 11 years.