A former prison officer has won a legal fight to stop the inmate who tortured him benefiting from his crimes.

Malcolm Joyce, 41, was locked inside a barricaded office, gagged and hooded during a hostage take-over at Castington Young Offenders' Institution in 1997.

His kidnappers threatened to kill him, slashed him with a knife, repeatedly beat him with a baseball bat and pool cue and threw darts at him before his 20-hour ordeal finally ended.

The incident left him scarred and traumatised and forced him to give up the job he loved.

Marvin Pomfret, then 18, from Manchester, was sentenced to life behind bars for the attack.

His accomplice, Gregg Newlands, 19, from Glasgow, was sentenced to nine years after the pair were convicted of grievous bodily harm and false imprisonment.

Mr Joyce thought justice had been served. But he was outraged when Pomfret, 23, was awarded £75,000 in compensation from Bolton Metropolitan Council after claiming that his criminal career could have been avoided if he had not been sent to a school for children with learning difficulties when he was nine.

The award was 10 times bigger than the £7,500 which Mr Joyce received from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority for his ordeal.

Incensed, Mr Joyce launched his own legal bid in February to prevent his attacker cashing in on his crimes.

Four months later, a judge granted an injunction freezing Pomfret's assets, ordering him to disclose full details of them. Mr Joyce successfully sued Pomfret for the physical injury and trauma he suffered during the attack. And yesterday Pomfret was ordered to make a damages payment to his victim - effectively stripping him of the money he made from his crimes.

Father-of-two Mr Joyce said: "This is a victory for victims everywhere. Criminals should not be allowed to cash in on their crimes."

A judge at Liverpool County Court will award Mr Joyce personal injury damages which, in normal circumstances, would probably be between £150,000 and £250,000.

However, because Pomfret's £75,000 award has been reduced by £55,000 in legal costs and money he handed over to his mother and girlfriend, Mr Joyce's pay-out will be no more than £3,500.

Yesterday Mr Joyce, who still lives in the North-East and is working as a computer technician, said his legal fight had never been about money but was a matter of principle.

Whatever sum he receives he will donate to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.

He said: "When I heard that Pomfret had been awarded £75,000 I was so incensed at the injustice that I felt compelled to take action. This has always been a matter of principle and about justice. "The whole idea of bringing this case was to emphasise that the criminal justice system is a joke. Criminals are allowed to claim compensation and receive huge amounts in damages when their victims get nothing.

"They should not be allowed to benefit from their criminal activity and I believe this is an issue that needs to be highlighted."

Mr Joyce suffered post-traumatic stress disorder following the incident and made an unsuccessful attempt to return to his job as a prison officer in 1998.

He was medically retired by the Prison Service in 1999, still suffers flashbacks of his ordeal and says it will take him years to recover properly.

Mr Joyce has been supported in his fight for justice by the Prison Officers' Association and Liverpool law firm Lees Lloyd Whitley, who have represented him free of charge. Yesterday his solicitor Frank Rogers said: "It is unique in my experience for a former prison officer to take civil action against an inmate but the £75,000 award to Pomfret made Mr Joyce feel very sore and I felt the same way."