Prisoner sentenced to 4 months extra time after assault on Corrections officer

AN Invercargill prisoner who threw hot water into a Corrections officer’s face will spend another four and ahalf months in jail.

Robert James Stuart (23) was sentenced yesterday in the District Court at Invercargill after pleading guilty to charges of assault, possessing an offensive weapon, behaving threateningly and resisting an official.

Judge Bernadette Farnan said Stuart, who has been serving a sentence at Invercargill Prison, had demonstrated a propensity to threaten and assault Corrections officers in the past.

On February 5, at about 4.15pm, Stuart was ‘‘remonstrating’’ with Corrections staff, demanding to be fed.

When one of the officers unlocked the door to his cell, Stuart moved past the officer to fill his coffee cup with hot water.

‘‘When his cup was full of water, he has turned towards all four Corrections staff, still remonstrating with them, and with force thrown the contents of the cup in the face of the first corrections officer.’’

The contents hit him in the face, and also hit the other three officers.The defendant then was sent back to his cell but due to his behaviour and history, he was to be moved to the Intervention and Support Unit (ISU).

When he heard he would be moved, Stuart became further enraged and told staff he had a weapon.

‘‘He would fight anybody who entered his cell,’’ the court heard.

The control and restraint team was called to extract the defendant but he ‘‘resisted violently.’’

A sharpened plastic knife, commonly known as a ‘‘shank’’, was found in the cell.

Stuart was restrained and escorted to the ISU.

Judge Farnan sentenced him to an additional four and ahalf months in jail.