Inmate pleads guilty to beating correctional officer at MCI-Shirley

An inmate and convicted murderer pleaded guilty to beating a correctional officer at Massachusetts Correctional Institution (MCI)-Shirley in 2022, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan announced Friday.

Roy Booth, 42, pleaded guilty Friday in Middlesex Superior Court to charges of mayhem and armed assault with intent to murder, according to the release. The charges stem from an Aug. 31, 2022, attack on Corrections Officer Matthew Tidman at MCI-Shirley, which is a medium-security state prison.

Investigators say that during recess that day, Booth unscrewed a metal pole from a weight-lifting machine in the gymnasium and hid it before attacking Tidman from behind. Booth used the 15-pound pole to “relentlessly beat” Tidman until other corrections officers physically restrained him, officials said. Tidman was taken by Medical Flight to Lahey Hospital in Burlington and was treated in an intensive care unit.

According to the Massachusetts Federated Correctional Officers Union, the attack on Tidman was unprovoked and he was struck several times in the face.

“Roy Booth’s brutal attack on Correctional Officer Matthew Tidman highlights the dangers that law enforcement, particularly correctional officers, face in their daily jobs,” Ryan said in a press release . “No one should have to fear for their life in their workplace. Fortunately, Prison Officer Tidman, after suffering horrific injuries, and against all odds, survived this terrifying attack.

Middlesex Superior Court Judge Catherine Ham sentenced Booth to 13 to 15 years in prison at MCI-Souza-Baranowski, a maximum security prison in Lancaster, according to the release. Booth will serve his sentence consecutive to his previous life sentence for murder.

Booth had been transferred from Virginia to the Massachusetts prison in March 2021. He was transferred again to a Virginia state prison following the Tidman attack.