A prisoner that all but killed a fellow inmate in the Hawke's Bay Prison has been found guilty this afternoon.
The jury at the High Court in Napier have just returned their verdict after four and a half hours of deliberations.
Paka Junior Leota, 34, had pleaded not guilty to one charge of injuring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm before Justice Karen Clark in the High Court at Napier on Monday morning.
The Crown alleged Leota beat Jason James Poi to near-death with fellow inmate Joseph Sam Samoa on March 21 2015 after he failed to deliver on an arrangement to bring contraband into jail.
Samoa, a convicted murderer and prison lifer, had previously pleaded guilty to the charge.