SURREY, B.C. – A prison inmate who assaulted a correctional officer with fecal matter at the Surrey Pretrial Services Centre was sentenced to serve an additional 14 months in jail for the attack in early March. A March 15 news release from the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union (BCGEU) stated that the Crown had asked for a sentence of one year, but the judge extended it to 14 months on the grounds that the assault had continued to have a strong physical and psychological effect on the victim. The judge also noted during the trial that inmates have a responsibility for the safety of correctional officers, the release added. “This was an unprovoked and disgusting attack, and we’re hopeful the sentence will send a message to other inmates that it’s not okay to assault correctional officers,” Dean Purdy, BCGEU’s vice president of corrections and sheriff services, said in a press statement. Purdy called the sentence “a reminder for Public Safety Minister Mike Morris and B.C.’s court system to take notice of the extremely dangerous and violent conditions our officers are faced with every day.” The victim was a longtime member of BCGEU, the union stated.