WOBURN, MA — Roy Booth, a 42-year-old inmate at MCI-Shirley, has pled guilty to attempted murder of a prison guard, as announced by Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan. Booth was sentenced to 13 to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of mayhem and armed assault with intent to murder.
The incident occurred in August 2022 when Booth attacked Corrections Officer Matthew Tidman with a metal pole he had taken from the prison’s weight room. Booth concealed the weapon by his side and launched a surprise attack from behind during recreation time. The assault was stopped only when officers intervened.
“Roy Booth’s brutal attack on Corrections Officer Matthew Tidman highlights the dangers that law enforcement, specifically Corrections Officers, face in their day-to-day work,” Ryan stated. “No one should have to fear for their life in their workplace. Fortunately, Corrections Officer Tidman, having suffered horrendous injuries, and against all odds, survived this terrifying attack.”
Following his sentencing, Booth will serve time at the maximum-security Souza Baranowski Correctional Center in Lancaster. He is already serving a life sentence for a murder conviction in Virginia. Booth was transferred to Massachusetts in 2021 but was sent back to a Virginia state prison after the assault on Tidman.
