Clayton Weatherston . . . prison target.
Prison guards say they cannot guarantee the safety of
convicted killer Clayton Weatherston while he serves his
sentence for the murder of Sophie Elliott.
He was convicted on Wednesday of fatally stabbing his former
girlfriend 216 times in her Dunedin home in January last
year.
Only one day into what is expected to be a lengthy sentence
for her slaying, rumours spread that a bounty had been put on
Weatherston's head at Christchurch Prison.
It is understood Weatherston has been segregated from the
general prison population, but the Corrections Department
would not confirm this.
Beven Hanlon, who heads prison guards' union the Corrections
Association, said Weatherston would "probably" be attacked in
prison even though he would not be among the general prison
population because of his high profile.
However, even isolation may not guarantee Weatherston's
safety. Gang members were also known to ask to be put into
segregation, where they had the potential to attack
segregated prisoners, he told the Dominion Post.
"Gang people in prison basically control the life and death
of other people in the prison.
"We have a number of murders in the prison system every year
and that's done on the instruction of other gang members and
that's how powerful they are in prisons."
Weatherston is sharing the prison with nearly 1000 medium to
high-medium-risk inmates.
Department spokesman Lance Alexander said almost one in three
prisoners was in segregation.
He confirmed those prisoners had accessibility to each other.
Weatherston will be sentenced on September 15.
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