Steven Kenneth Boskell (26) pleaded guilty to kidnapping, threatening to do grievous bodily harm and possessing a weapon when he appeared at the Dunedin District Court yesterday.
Judge Kevin Phillips jailed him for three years and four months but said it was a rare occasion when the sentence would make no practical difference to the man serving it.
Boskell is subject to a term of life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 18 years imposed in 2015.
He was one of four men convicted of the murder of Justin McFarlane, who was brutally beaten to death in his North Otago home with a variety of weapons.
On June 21, Boskell was in a high-security unit at the Otago Corrections Facility with his associate, 27-year-old Dylan Erikson, during recreation time.
The victim was sitting at a table nearby.
Without warning, Boskell put his left forearm around the victim’s neck and pulled out a metal shank which he held to the man’s throat.
The 13cm weapon was made from wire, sharpened at one end, with a melted plastic handle.
It was attached to the defendant’s wrist by a piece of cloth, the court heard.
Corrections staff later found an identical weapon in Boskell’s pocket.
Erikson ushered other prisoners away from the area and delivered a hand-written note, penned by his fellow inmate, to guards.
It detailed Boskell’s desire to have his stereo returned.
“I’m gonna f...ing stab him in the neck if you come here,” the defendant warned as Corrections staff approached.
For half an hour, Boskell negotiated with them, his shank remaining poised by the victim’s neck.
Eventually, the stereo was put on a table, prompting him to release the hostage and throw his weapons to the floor.
The court heard the victim was uninjured.
While yesterday’s sentencing had no immediate consequence for Boskell, his counsel, John Westgate, said the episode might “rear its ugly head” when the defendant came before the Parole Board.
There were more pressing matters for the prisoner.
Once Judge Phillips had imposed the sentence and given him his second strike under the three-strikes legislation, Boskell asked: “Do I get my stereo back?”
“If I could I would, but it’s not a matter for me. It’s a prison matter,” said the judge.
Crown prosecutor Richard Smith said the item might have been seized as an exhibit for if the matter had gone to trial.
If that was the case, he said, it would soon be released.
Charges against Erikson were dropped.
Boskell will have his first parole hearing in September 2031.
