Camera blocked for prison yard attack
A wad of wet toilet paper was used to block the lens of a security camera at Christchurch Men’s Prison before prisoners stabbed a man 11 times using pieces of wire as weapons.
The victim was helping prison guards to hand out packs of sandwiches for lunch when he was attacked about 11am on December 8, 2015.
The victim received three puncture wounds to his face around his left eye and forehead, five puncture injuries to the back of his head, and one on the left side of his throat near his voice box.
He also received one puncture wound to the left side of his chest and one to the back of his right hand. He needed three stitches when he was treated by the prison nurse.
Four inmates were due to go on trial in the Christchurch District Court yesterday charged with wounding the man with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, but the trial never started.
Instead, the four were brought into court one by one and pleaded guilty to reduced charges of assaulting the man with a weapon.
Judge Paul Kellar remanded all of them in custody for a presentence report and sentencing on October 10.
Sonny Clarke, 28, Michael Paul Thompson, 36, Dwayne Kararema Tutengaehe, 23, and Resham Toa Blake-Faatafa, 22, all admitted the joint charge of assault with a weapon.
Crown prosecutor Karyn South said the four were all in the Matai North exercise yard when Blake-Faatafa ran towards the yard’s security camera, jumped up and covered over the lens with a handful of wet toilet paper just before the attack began.
Tutengaehe will also be sentenced on the same date on a separate assault charge.