A prisoner beat a fellow inmate to death after complaining about his poor hygiene and TV being loud, a murder jury has heard.

Stefan Adi suffered multiple injuries to his head, face and neck in what was described as "unrestrained violence" meted out by Sasan Rabat while both were being held at HMP Maidstone in December 2021.

The wounds to his skull, scalp and neck were considered by a pathologist to be so serious that they were unsurvivable, even if immediate medical intervention had been administered.

The two men, both 24 at the time, occupied adjacent single-bed cells on Thanet wing, and it was in Rabat's bloodstained cell that Adi's lifeless body was found, hidden behind a locker and table.

Maidstone Crown Court heard Adi, formerly of Gravesend, had arrived on the wing at the Category C jail about three months earlier, whereas his alleged murderer, who was serving a 15-month sentence for burglary, had only been there for a week.

Yesterday, prosecutor John Price KC told the court Rabat had become "increasingly antagonistic" towards his fellow inmate in the hours leading up to his death.

In a verbal confrontation witnessed by another prisoner, Rabat was said to have shouted at Adi 'You f***ing stinky b*****d. I cannot sleep because of you. Your TV is so loud'.

He also complained, as had other inmates, about his personal hygiene and insulted him by saying he "stunk of s***".

At the start of Rabat's trial, the jury was told that although the now 26-year-old accepts he killed Adi, he denies murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The court heard Adi's beaten body was found by prison guard Darren Cheeseman shortly before lock-up on the afternoon of December 9.

The jail, which specialises in housing foreign nationals, including those in the UK unlawfully or having arrived "irregularly", was subject to Covid restrictions at the time, limiting the number of inmates who could be out of their cells at any one time.

Mr Cheeseman had just left his office by the entrance to the wing landing when Rabat, who is from Iran, approached and told him that he had cut himself with a razor.

His left hand was wrapped in a blue bath towel and, on closer inspection, he was found to have a slight wound in the crease of his index finger, with blood over his hand.

‘He looked over the top of those two pieces of furniture and then he saw a human hand resting against the back of the wall’

Mr Cheeseman also noticed blood spatter to Rabat's back who, when asked about it, said it had come from his injured digit.

Giving evidence on Tuesday (September 3), the guard told the jury that the inmate was "calm and collected" and nothing was said as they walked back to his cell.

Once at the self-locking door, Mr Cheeseman opened it and was met by "a scene of disarray and damage", said the prosecutor.

Blood was smeared on the floor, there was a broken chair, the ceramic lid of the toilet cistern was in pieces, and the locker and table were out of their usual position, spattered with blood and blocking the rear wall.

"Mr Cheeseman was now becoming concerned about what he was truly dealing with because of the amount of blood smearing," said the prosecutor.

"He looked over the top of those two pieces of furniture and then he saw a human hand resting against the back of the wall.

"He saw a pile of blankets covering it but nevertheless a pair of legs was sticking out from beneath them.

"He recognised the footwear and the joggers. He recognised them as the legs of another prisoner on the wing, Mr Adi.

"As was quickly to become apparent, Mr Adi was dead."

Mr Cheeseman told the jury that on entering the cell, Rabat sat on the end of the bed, and his demeanour did not change throughout their interaction.

During cross-examination by defence counsel Jonathan Lennon KC, the prison officer agreed that it was his impression that Adi "rarely interacted" with other prisoners and that despite being "next-door neighbours", the two men were not friends.

Mr Cheeseman also confirmed there was no CCTV in the cells or on the landings, and it was not known why Adi had gone to Rabat's cell.

Fellow prison officer Daniel Kent told the jury that at about 2.40pm - 10 minutes before lock-up - he had asked Rabat, who was in his cell, if he was going to collect his medication.

He next saw him about 15 minutes later as he was being escorted by his colleague Mr Cheeseman, followed by another officer, Darren Moore.

Mr Kent said he went to the cell, saw Rabat sitting on his bed with a cut to his hand, and asked if he had self-harmed, to which the prisoner replied "Yes", then "No", followed by "No comment".

Asked about Rabat's demeanour, the guard explained: "He didn't come across in any heightened state. He was very, very calm in his answers and just repeated 'No comment' as I tried to engage."

Mr Kent said he was then alerted by an "alarmed" Mr Cheeseman as to the grim discovery.

He agreed with the prosecutor that he had initially thought Adi was simply hiding but then, having removed the blankets, he was "immediately aware" it was "something more serious".

Rabat was then instructed to leave his cell, added Mr Kent.

The court heard that two weeks before the alleged murder, he had been scheduled to have a mental health assessment.

However, the appointment did not go ahead as he had been placed in segregation after being found wandering in the "wrong part" of the prison.

Adi, who was just 5ft 3in, weighed about 7st and was said to be "a complete loner who never put a foot out of line", was declared dead at the scene by paramedics.

The court heard that the nature of his injuries indicated that he would have been "rapidly incapacitated" by the blows inflicted and therefore unable to defend himself.

“He was totally calm as if nothing had happened…”

"What the degree of injury he sustained shows is that unrestrained violence continued to be used upon the head of a defenceless man," explained the prosecutor.

"In fact, there were so many blows to the head and of such severity, he had to have been incapacitated very early on and yet they had continued to be struck upon him."

A post-mortem examination carried out three days later at Medway Maritime Hospital mortuary revealed the cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the head and neck.

A third prison officer, Darren Moore, was tasked with moving Rabat to a different cell once Adi's body had been found, and then watching him through the door observation panel.

In a statement made to police, he recalled him sitting on a chair reading a leaflet.

"He was totally calm in his manner, his hands were not shaking, there was no tremor to his voice. He was totally calm as if nothing had happened," said Mr Moore.

Rabat was then moved from Thanet wing to segregation, with the guard adding: "He didn't speak and again showed no emotion, not a flicker."

Mr Moore also described the victim as a "very unhygienic person" who never washed himself or changed his clothes.

Following his arrest, Rabat declined to answer questions when interviewed by police.

But in a prepared statement he said he had acted in self-defence "to save my own life", claiming Adi had gone to his [Rabat's] cell, threatening to kill him and wielding a razor blade.

Mr Price told the court however that no razor or blade was ever found and, in light of that "wholly false" account given almost three years ago, Rabat's defence to the charge of murder was now one of diminished responsibility.

It was explained to the jury by Judge Philip Statman that for such a defence to be proved, it requires him and his legal team to establish that he was suffering from an abnormality of mental functioning, that it arose from a recognised medical condition, that it impaired his ability to understand the nature of his conduct, to form rational judgement, or to exercise self-control, and that it caused or was a significant contributory factor to causing the killing of Adi.

The jury was told that Rabat could be cleared of murder and convicted of manslaughter only if all four strands of that defence were found to have "more likely than not" existed.

But Mr Price said it was the prosecution case that Rabat was guilty of the more serious offence.

"Mr Rabat admits and has always admitted that he is the person who killed Mr Adi," he told the jury.

"Once you have heard the evidence, you may conclude it would have been impossible for him to plausibly say otherwise.

"So, the issue you are going to have to decide is what is the prosecution case? What do we say about this issue?

"The prosecution submits that when Mr Rabat killed Mr Adi, he committed the most serious type of homicide, which is the offence of murder."

Explaining that "anger, loss of temper or resentment" were not considered to be abnormalities of mental functioning, the prosecutor added: "It must first be proved by the prosecution that the accused killed or caused the death of the deceased, that he did so unlawfully and that when causing the death of the deceased, intended to kill that person or, at the least, cause him really serious injury.

"The prosecution has proved what it needs to prove. That being done, it is for him to prove the defence of diminished responsibility."

Throughout much of the first two days of the trial, Rabat has sat in the dock with his head bowed and flanked by four nurses.

The jury of seven women and five men was told that in January last year he was transferred from prison to high-security, psychiatric hospital, Broadmoor.

Having left Iran in 2015, he travelled to Turkey and then Germany before arriving unlawfully in the UK on a date unknown.

"What the degree of injury he sustained shows is that unrestrained violence continued to be used upon the head of a defenceless man…”

But, after reporting to police in London's Belgravia in March 2017, he was held at Brook House detention centre at Gatwick Airport.

Records show that in the years since he has spoken to several medical experts about Kurdish persecution, witnessing his uncle's execution, suffering from flashbacks and hearing noises in his head.

He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression in December 2019, and in July 2020 while residing in hostel accommodation in Twickenham described feeling "unsafe and very anxious" when living with others.

The court was told Rabat was first convicted in September 2020 of criminal damage, and then sentenced the following year in respect of two burglaries committed when he twice gained access to restricted areas at the Port of Southampton and tried to board a cruise ship.

He was initially remanded into custody at HMP Winchester before being transferred to Wandsworth Prison, and in October 2021 was served with a deportation order.

Rabat, of no fixed address, was then moved to Wormwood Scrubs overnight before arriving at Maidstone Prison on November 6 and on Thanet wing on December 2.

Following the alleged murder, he was transferred to Belmarsh Prison in south east London and, after several psychiatric assessments, to HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes before finally ending up in Broadmoor.

Three psychiatrists are due to also give evidence during the trial, which is expected to last two weeks.