A convicted rapist who attacked a female Cambridgeshire prison guard by grabbing her throat and choking her in his cell has had 32 months added to his sentence.

Liam McCarthy, 28, was serving a 17-year sentence at HMP Littlehey, Huntingdon, at the time of the attack.

The court heard how the guard entered McCarthy’s cell to complete a routine inspection before he “grabbed her throat and choked her”.

Before other guards could intervene, McCarthy barricaded the door shut with a wardrobe and other items.

Shortly afterwards, guards managed to force their way into the cell to find McCarthy shirtless on top of the victim.

She was not seriously injured but was extremely shaken and upset.

He pleaded guilty yesterday (June 19) to false imprisonment and causing actual bodily harm at Peterborough Crown Court.

Detective Constable Tom Nuttall said: “This vicious attack could have continued had the victim’s colleagues not intervened.

“Today’s result means that this violent individual will not be free to harm the public for a long time.”

In January 2016, McCarthy, from West Bromwich in the West Midlands, was jailed after he raped a female employee at Birmingham’s City Hospital.

He was arrested after he returned to the hospital to try and retrieve his wallet after he dropped it during the incident.

The victim feared she was going to die during the 50-minute ordeal after McCarthy pounced on her when she came out of a toilet cubicle.

When police later arrested him they found a 35-second clip of the sickening attack on his mobile phone.

The attack took place in October 2015 after the victim had emerged from a toilet cubicle to see grinning McCarthy, who had earlier been in the hospital waiting area.

She bravely fought back by hitting McCarthy with a toilet brush, but she feared she was going to die as she could not breathe.

After the rape the victim spotted McCarthy had left his wallet behind and she raised the alarm.

In an impact statement the victim described the “utter distress and psychological harm” she had suffered and said that she been unable to return to work.