A double murderer has been sentenced for attacking a fellow inmate at Otago Corrections Facility.
Martin Hone, 43, appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday and admitted a charge of injuring with intent to injure.
The court heard the defendant was jailed for life in 2018 after he was convicted of murdering Raymond Fleet, 51, and his nephew James Fleet, 26.
Hone beat the pair to death with a shovel and the older victim was run over multiple times, The New Zealand Herald reported.
On October 11, the defendant was in a yard at Otago Corrections Facility, as was the victim.
The defendant yelled at the victim before punching him five times, causing him to fall to the ground.
Hone stood over the man and yelled at him, then paced the yard.
A few minutes later, Hone delivered another flurry of about 20 punches about the victim’s head and body.
The inmate managed to get away, but the defendant followed him, cornered him and continued striking him.
The victim suffered minor injuries including a bleeding mouth and sprained ribs.
Yesterday, counsel Steve Turner explained his client had been suffering a migraine for days at the time of the assault.
He also had been moved to the Otago prison, away from his family and support, and felt isolated.
Judge David Robinson noted that since he was jailed in 2018, Hone had racked up three other violent charges.
‘‘Assaults within the custodial environment are coming before this court all too frequently.
‘‘This was persistent, there was targeting of the head, your victim has been vulnerable through being unable to escape from you by being in a confined yard.’’
Judge Robinson sentenced Hone to 14 months’ imprisonment.
The defendant was serving a life sentence with a minimum non-parole period of 20 years.
The sentence he received yesterday would not make any difference to the term the defendant was serving.
