A disgruntled prisoner set fire to his cell because he was angry at being transferred to Otago, a court has heard.
Nathan Manning (32) was jailed in July for three years for the armed burglary of a Christchurch home, and spent the start of his sentence at Christchurch Men's Prison.
''He was apparently doing well and had some support and visitors,'' counsel David McCaskill said.
Then Manning was transferred to Otago Corrections Facility - just one of a slew of prisoners recently brought in from outside the region.
''He didn't want to go there,'' Mr McCaskill said.
''Shifting house is regarded as a pretty stressful thing. In this case, the prison he was in was effectively his home.''
Manning made his dissatisfaction clear on October 17.
He blocked the cell ventilation system using paper and toothpaste then removed the cover from the light switch.
By fiddling with the live wires. the defendant managed to set a piece of paper alight, which he then transferred to a rubbish bin.
In preparation, he had filled it with his prison-issue clothing.
They began to smoulder and burn and quickly toxic fumes and smoke filled Manning's cell.
Corrections officers on the scene assessed the situation as ''life-threatening''.
They called out for the prisoner to leave the cell but had to venture through the blackness to pull him out.
Two guards were treated for smoke inhalation, suffering headaches and dizzy spells in the aftermath.
One, who was training for a triathlon, had to give it up temporarily to focus on his recovery.
Mr McCaskill said his client did not want to hurt anyone.
''He just intended to create a nuisance because he was unhappy,'' he said.
Manning, who had a long criminal history featuring property offences, violence and serious dishonesty, had spent much of his life in prison, the court heard.
''He can be described as institutionalised,'' Mr McCaskill said.
He argued that adding time to the defendant's sentence was unlikely to achieve anything but Judge Kevin Phillips disagreed.
He tacked 11 months on to Manning's stint behind bars but declined to make him pay for the damage.
The prisoner already owed more than $10,000, the judge said.
