Two prisoners appearing in the Dunedin District Court this morning assaulted their co-accused, leaving him with serious injuries.
Department of Corrections southern regional commissioner Ben Clark confirmed this afternoon the three men were set to appear in court today on joint charges, before two of the men assaulted the other man.
Duty lawyer Max Winders said the two men alleged to have carried out the assault were serving prisoners at the Otago Corrections Facility and were due to appear today, along with the other man, before the Dunedin District Court on a charge of injuring with intent to do grievous bodily harm, from an alleged incident at the prison on April 1.
Mr Clark said an investigation was under way and the incident had been referred to police.
''No assault or violent behaviour is tolerated and anyone who resorts to this behaviour will be held to account.
''The reality is that the risk of violence is something we cannot eliminate entirely, but we are constantly working to achieve the safest environment possible for staff and prisoners.
''We have invested significantly in training and tools for staff working to keep prisons safe, including tactical skills training, stab resistant body armour and the expanded use of pepper spray.''
Ambulance officers were seen just before 9.30am carrying a stretcher into the cell entrance to the courthouse on Castle St.
About 10 minutes later, a young man who appeared to be unconscious was carried into the ambulance on a stretcher with his head in a brace.
St John spokesman Gerard Campbell later confirmed a man with serious injuries had been transported from the court this morning.
A Corrections Officer escorted the injured man to Dunedin Hospital.
Earlier, people could be heard banging on the internal walls of the police custody van as it drove towards the building.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Mike Wingfield said the Criminal Investigation Branch wanted to interview the two men involved in the alleged assault with a view to further charges being laid.
In court, Mr Winders suggested all three be remanded until Tuesday without appearing. Police supported that stance.
Judge John Macdonald said if there was a security risk posed by the defendants, it would be "classic case" for them to be called by audio-visual link, rather than brought to court again.
