MCI-Shirley inmate pleads guilty to attempted murder of prison guard

WOBURN — An MCI-Shirley Prison inmate has pleaded guilty to attempted murder of a prison guard, according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan’s office.

Roy Booth, 42, was sentenced to 13 to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty Friday in Middlesex Superior Court to charges of mayhem and assault with a weapon with intent to kill.

Booth beat Matthew Tidman with a metal barbell in August 2022 that he took from the prison weight room. He hid it beside him before attacking Tidman from behind during recess. The officers lunged at Booth to stop the attack.

“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 prepared statement. “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.

Booth will serve his time at the maximum security Souza Baranowski Correctional Center in Lancaster with a life sentence he is serving in Virginia for murder.

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

Contact Henry Schwan at [email protected]. Follow him on X: @henrytelegram.

This article was originally published on Telegram & Gazette: MCI-Shirley inmate pleads guilty to attempted murder of prison guard