WARNING: This story contains photos of violence, which may upset some readers.
A violent recidivist offender’s embarrassment after being called out over a common prison faux pas appears to have been the impetus for a vicious attack in which a fellow inmate - already unconscious and suffering a seizure - had his head stomped.
At the time, Patrick Dixon was serving a 15-year sentence after he opened fire on police in South Auckland in 2016. Now his 2031 release date has been pushed back even further.
“Pound and grounded the motherf***er,” Dixon told his shocked partner, who was on the phone with him when the attack happened.
Dixon picked up the receiver again and continued the call while the victim lay unconscious at his feet.
“Baby, he f***ing came to me,” Dixon told his partner, claiming it was all in self-defence.
But, like Judge Kevin Glubb who sentenced the 40-year-old last week, Dixon’s partner seemed dubious of the claim.
“We’ve got parole soon!” she reminded him.
Before deciding on a new, cumulative prison term, Judge Glubb watched the September 2024 attack via CCTV footage from inside Auckland Prison at Paremoremo.
“I note [the victim] did approach and challenge, and he did grapple with you,” the judge said as Dixon sat in the dock at Auckland District Court, smiling as he waved to his partner and young daughter in the gallery.
“However, he was clearly immediately rendered unconscious by you.”
There was nothing mitigating about how Dixon handled the situation, the judge said.
Court documents show Dixon had been in an exercise yard on a Saturday afternoon, using the only phone available to prisoners, when a 15-minute time limit ended the conversation he was having with his partner. So he called her again.
“This practice is known as ‘double dialling’, which can be considered a sign of disrespect in the prison environment,” Dixon’s agreed summary of facts states.
The victim, who took turns using the phone, noticed the follow-up call and challenged Dixon on it, walking to him from across the exercise yard.
In response, Dixon dropped the phone and readied himself for a fight, removing his shoes and jersey. The verbal confrontation escalated when Dixon stepped towards the defendant, who stepped back.
The duo then squared off. Dixon kicked twice but missed before the two men grabbed each other.
“Mr Dixon manoeuvred behind [the victim] with his arms wrapped around the complainant’s torso,” court documents state. “Mr Dixon lifted [him] up off the ground and threw him to the ground backwards.
“The right side of the complainant’s skull struck the concrete floor of the exercise yard with sufficient force to create complex skull fractures.”
The head knock immediately rendered the victim unconscious, “prone and his head entirely unprotected” as he started suffering a seizure.
Undeterred, Dixon knelt beside him and threw an estimated 15-16 punches to his head “with significant force”. He then got to his feet and delivered the head stomp.
The numerous post-knockout blows caused significant facial injuries to the victim, including fractures to his eye socket and nasal bone. He spent two weeks in the hospital, and also suffered a traumatic brain injury.
“The entire assault took place over approximately 20 seconds,” the summary of facts states. “At no point was Mr Dixon struck...”
“He’s had enough,” a third prisoner interjected as Dixon ended the attack.
After pacing around the victim, Dixon resumed the conversation with his partner, who was still on the line.
“Baby, he f***ing stepped me out,” he said, pleading his case to her. “He just got off the f***ing phone. Been on the phone for a f***ing hour.
“I told him, ‘Do you want to do this?’ and then he flinched at me. I kicked him. Flinched at me again. Boom, tried to grab me and then I picked him up, dumped him on his head. Pound and grounded...”
His partner replied: “Aw, he didn’t touch you.”
Dixon continued to insist the other man had been the aggressor before adding: “Yeah, f*** this c*** is f***ing pissing out blood.”
“Yeah, and that’s not a good thing,” his partner insisted, pointing out the upcoming parole hearing. “Aw ... baby.”
In an interview with detectives the next day, Dixon claimed the victim had been threatening prison staff and had been stealing medication from fellow inmates.
He felt his life was in danger, he said, suggesting that the real reason for the other man approaching him was because of tensions within the prison between the Rebels and Head Hunters gangs.
But during last week’s hearing, Crown prosecutor Ben Kirkpatrick said that claim belied what was seen on CCTV and described in the summary of facts: clearly a fight over the phone.
The judge agreed.
“None of that does you any credit,” he said after reading aloud the summary of facts.
But the judge also agreed with defence lawyer Gowan Duff that Dixon now appeared to be remorseful. He submitted a five-page letter of apology to the court.
Gowan noted that his client is now receiving one-on-one counselling through ACC, having been recently diagnosed with PTSD. He declined to discuss the reason for the PTSD in open court, noting that Dixon’s daughter was in attendance.
The judge set a starting point of three years and nine months’ imprisonment for causing grievous bodily harm with intent, a charged that carries a maximum 14-year sentence. He then allowed 35% in reductions for the defendant’s guilty plea, his troubled background, remorse, efforts at rehabilitation and his PTSD diagnosis.
The PTSD, the judge noted, seemed to have resulted in hyper-vigilance that possibly played a role in the new offending as well as some of his many other previous offences.
The list of priors was “troubling”, the judge said, noting that they included violence, arson, burglary, dishonesty and using a firearm against police in 2016.
An officer in Manurewa had tried to pull Dixon over but the defendant opened fire, riddling the officer’s patrol unit with holes.
Dixon continued firing in the direction of the uninjured officer until the pursuit was abandoned a short time later.
Dixon remained on the run for several days, with a Coromandel Peninsula primary school going into lockdown at one point as police tried to catch up with him. Police later took him into custody at a Cambridge, Waikato, property.
Judge Glubb added a four-month uplift to the sentence, resulting in what would have otherwise been an end sentence of just under four years and three months’ imprisonment.
But, as is required by all judges sentencing someone who is already in prison, Judge Glubb then needed to adjust the term for “totality”. He allowed a further 30% reduction, resulting in an end sentence of two years and 11 months.
It will be stacked on top of the sentence Dixon is already serving, resulting in a combined sentence of 17 years and 11 months.
As his partner predicted, Dixon was not granted parole after the prison attack.
But he has taken serious steps towards reform in the meantime, his lawyer said, describing his client as now eager to engage with the system.
After announcing the sentence but before sending him away, the judge commended Dixon for participating in ACC counselling.
“From what I’ve read, you’re making real progress,” Judge Glubb said. “The only way to get parole ... is if you continue to make progress and keep your nose clean.
“This is the opportunity. Get the counselling - make use of it. Let’s not see you back here again. Is that possible?”
Dixon didn’t hesitate.
“Yes,” he responded. “Definitely.”
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.
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