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A female prison guard who was allegedly held hostage at knifepoint in a jail storeroom before being rescued by the armed offenders squad has told a court how she feared for her life.
Jeremy William Mataira, 46, is accused of holding the woman hostage at Paremoremo Prison for
almost three hours last September. He has been ordered to stand trial.
He appeared in North Shore District Court yesterday for a depositions hearing on charges including kidnapping, assault, indecent assault, assault with a weapon and assault with intent to commit sexual violation.
The guard was on duty in Paremoremo Prison's medium security wing when the 46-year-old inmate allegedly pulled her into a 2.7sq m cleaning cupboard. When the armed offenders squad freed her, nearly three hours later, the inmate was stripped to his underwear.
The woman yesterday revealed in a statement how she thought she would be killed as she was held captive inside the storeroom on September 8.
The 53-year-old told police Mataira's duty was to look after the storeroom.
She said he went into the store room and returned with a plastic container of chocolate biscuits. He offered her one but she declined.
He went back into the storeroom saying, "I've got something else for you here from the boys."
She said he came out carrying a small towel folded in half with a knife inside it. "He took the knife from the towel ... and held it to my throat. Then he grabbed me and pushed me into the storeroom."
She described how she fought back and yelled at him to stop. He tied her up and barricaded the door shut with shelving units, draws, boxes and paper towels. She said she tried to calm him down as he was "extremely hyped up and agitated".
She said he placed a blanket on the floor and created a canopy with another blanket. He stripped to his underwear. She said she refused his offer to sit on the blanket with him.
He made several lewd comments and told her about sexual abuse he said he had suffered as a child. She said she continually tried to reason with him, including telling him she had medication at home she needed to take.
He blindfolded her using material from a sheet, which he cut with scissors. She described how she started to panic when he began kissing her feet.
She said she started screaming after seeing some words written on a sack he had produced. As she tried to climb some shelving units, a window smashed and she could see people in black clothing. The door was smashed in and Mataira grabbed her in a headlock. She managed to break free.
"I went towards the door where the rescuers were."
She said she passed out and woke up in an ambulance. She suffered a black eye and abrasions to her face, wrists and legs.
Mataira will stand trial in the High Court at Auckland in March.
