The seven-on-one attack took place at Hawke's Bay Regional Prison last year. Photo / Paul Taylor
Two more prison inmates have been given further jail terms for taking part in a prolonged seven-on-one attack on another prisoner that went unnoticed by guards for 15 minutes.
Jesse Abraham-Cordtz and a remand prisoner have both been given sentences of 17 months’ imprisonment for injuring with intent following the beating at Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison in October.
The remand prisoner’s name is not being published because he is facing other charges before the courts.
The two men were sentenced in the Hastings District Court by Judge Gordon Matenga, who gave Stephen Tihore an 18-month jail term last week.
The Department of Corrections said outside the court that, altogether, seven people had been charged for the gang-related assault.
Police said the remand prisoner threw the first punch at the victim in the jail’s Wing 3 about 1pm on October 23.
Tihore then threw the man to the ground.
The remand prisoner brought a weapon into the fray — a broom. He used it to strike the victim once on the body and twice on the head.
Abraham-Cordtz was one of the others who rushed in to punch, kick and stomp on the prone victim in what was described by Judge Matenga as “extreme and prolonged violence”.
At one stage, as the assault appeared to be ending, the victim stood up but was then subjected to further punches and kicks.
The court was told Abraham-Cordtz did not return for the second part of the assault.
The victim suffered considerable bruising and swelling to his face and pain in his back, chest and arms, but no fractures.
He was taken to hospital, but discharged back to the prison the following day.
The attack was captured on the prison’s closed-circuit television system, but Corrections officers did not know it had taken place until the victim made his way to the control room about 15 minutes later.
The Department of Corrections said last week that, at the time, officers on the wing had been occupied elsewhere and the officer in the control room had been busy “monitoring the actions of another prisoner”.
Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison general manager George Massingham said an internal review found the time it took officers to respond was “impacted by staff not becoming aware of the assault immediately at the time it occurred”.
Once the victim reached the control room, he was given first aid, back-up was called, and the alleged attackers secured.
The internal review found gang tensions were a contributing factor. The prison has now made changes to where inmates are placed.
In addition to the internal review, the Independent Corrections Inspectorate is also looking into the assault.
“We will consider any recommendations this review makes to ensure we are providing the safest possible environment for prisoners,” Massingham said.
In court on Wednesday, both the police and his defence lawyer agreed Abraham-Cordtz had played a lesser role in the attack.
But a pre-sentence report said he was entrenched in the gang culture and did not seem overly concerned or empathetic towards the victim.
“I am a product of my environment,” Abraham-Cordtz told the report writer.
At the time of the attack, he was a sentenced prisoner serving a jail term of two years and six months on firearms charges.
His 17 months’ imprisonment for the assault was added to that sentence.
The remand prisoner was also sentenced to two months for another assault on Christmas Eve, when he pushed and verbally abused a female relative at a Ruatoria house.
Judge Matenga ordered the two-month sentence be served concurrently with the 17 months for the prison attack.
He said the option of home detention was not appropriate because of the other pending charges.
Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of frontline experience as a probation officer.