A POLICE informer was recognised by a fellow inmate within minutes of arriving at a North-East prison, an inquest heard yesterday.

The inquest into the death of 31-year-old Paul Day heard that on the day he was transferred to Durham's Frankland Prison from Wandsworth Prison, he was recognised by a fellow prisoner, said by the then-governor to be "one of the most violent men in the prison service".

The inmate had earlier assaulted Day, of Essex, at a prison where the two men were, and threatened to do so again, even if it meant fighting prison staff to get to him.

The inquest at Chester-le-Street, County Durham, had heard claims that Day's hopes of a fresh start at Durham were dashed in 20 minutes when he was exposed as a police informer by prison staff.

Entries in the prison logbook relating to his arrival in August 2002 included references to the prisoner having recognised Day in the exercise yard and shouting to other inmates that he was a "grass".

Then-governor Douglas Graham told the inquest that the inmate "was one of the most violent men in the prison service and one of the most dangerous risks in the prison service. I would take the threat very seriously".

Day, who was serving a seven-and-a-half-year term for a robbery in Essex, was placed in the prison's segregation unit despite his repeated demands that he be moved.

Governor Graham said that, over the following days, Day made a series of threats to harm staff unless he was moved, culminating in a threat to stab the governor in the eye.

The hearing continues.