Sonny Clarke, 34, was given an additional four months’ jail time when he appeared before the Dunedin District Court yesterday, while his co-defendant Alistair John McFarlane got three months.
Both pleaded guilty to assaulting a prison officer, a charge which carries a maximum penalty of six months’ imprisonment.
The incident, on June 9, was one in a string of violent episodes at the Otago Corrections Facility this year, which prompted comment from Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell.
"There is no excuse for these unprovoked and gutless assaults, and Corrections are ensuring the perpetrators are held to account", he said last month.
While sources told the Otago Daily Times recent violence was committed by the Crips gang, there was no mention of such a link in court documents.
Clarke was leaving his cell for the exercise yard when he set off a metal detector.
A guard told him it was likely the watch he was wearing and instructed him to take it off and pass through the scanner again.
Instead, Clarke threw the watch on the ground and made his way towards the yard as the victim followed.
As they approached a "caged corridor", the defendant punched the man several times in the head.
"Nah, that’s a lie", Clarke interjected, as the summary was read by Judge Jim Large.
He was reminded, though, that he had pleaded guilty and therefore accepted the facts.
The Corrections officer hit Clarke in the face to try to thwart the attack but it caught the attention of McFarlane, who hit the victim on the back of the head. His counsel Sarah Saunderson-Warner said he "misinterpreted" what he had seen unfolding.
The court heard both men had already suffered significant consequences as a result of their violence, each spending two months in "the pound" (segregation).
Both had been reclassified as maximum-security prisoners and transferred north to Paremoremo, hundreds of kilometres away from friends and family.
Access to rehabilitation programmes for Clarke and McFarlane would now be limited, which would have a direct influence on their likelihood of getting parole, the court heard.
The victim of the attack sustained a lump on the back of his head, one on his temple and bruising around his eye, the summary said.
Four prisoners, all charged with assault with intent to injure, will appear in court next week over a June fracas.
— Rob Kidd, Court reporter
