A PRISON officer sobbed at home after an 'obnoxious' inmate threw a plastic bucket of human excrement over him in an act of revenge.

Paul Jackson, 55, had been serving a four-year prison sentence for burglary at HMP Guys Marsh in Dorset when he attacked the officer on February 10 last year.

Jackson, of Frances Road in Boscombe, "indicated he would 'get [the officer] back'" after the victim reported him around a month before the incident for being under the influence of drugs.

Rob Welling, prosecuting at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday, said the defendant hurled the bucket as the officer was carrying out checks at the prison.

"There was a reaction from some of the other prisoners. They were holding their noses, and some had tops pulled up," Mr Welling said.

"The smell was obviously pretty strong.

"According to the victim, there was a cheer from the other prisoners."

The victim was mistakenly told by prison medics that Jackson suffers with blood-borne virus Hepatitis C.

In a statement read aloud to the court by Mr Welling, the victim said he went home and "broke down crying" after the incident. He didn't want to hug his wife or children believing he might make them ill, the court heard.

Jackson admitted administering a poison or noxious thing with intent to injure, aggrieve or annoy another.

Victoria Hill, mitigating for Jackson, said the defendant has suffered with a heroin addiction for around 40 years. He began taking Spice while in prison.

The comment about 'getting the officer back' was made in jest to other prisoners, Ms Hill said.

"Under the influence of Spice, he was egged on by his friends," she told the court.

"He felt he would lose respect if he didn't carry through on what he'd previously said.

"He did it to save face. He acknowledges his actions were abhorrent, to put it mildly."

Staff at Jackson's hostel call him "polite, courteous and considerate", she said.

Judge Ben Compton told Jackson: "You seem to recognise that the idea of one human doing this to another is vile and unacceptable."

He said the defendant had acted out of "bravado" and wanted to "do something obnoxious".

"It was degrading. The victim felt unclean."

The defendant has 27 convictions for 77 offences. He was jailed for four years in March 2017 after admitting burglary.

Jackson was just weeks away from his planned release from prison when he attacked the officer.

Judge Compton sentenced Jackson to two years in prison.