His name is Nick Evans and he was aged 25.
His death came just a few months into a sentence for property charges and years of wrestling with a methamphetamine addiction. He died in Whangarei Hospital last month with pneumonia after the MRSA superbug defeated treatments.
However, it is the cause of the illness that has now come under focus because of claims made in Parliament yesterday.
The illness was believed to have gained a foothold because of a rupture to his lung, which, Labour MP Kelvin Davis yesterday claimed, was caused when Mr Evans was dropped off a balcony in the privately operated Mt Eden Prison.
The claim follows revelations about violence inside the Mt Eden Correctional Facility.
The degree of violence was revealed last week in online footage showing organised fights inside the prison, known as 'Contender Mt Eden' among inmates.
Mr Davis told Parliament yesterday that Mr Evans had suffered the injury as a result of violence at the jail, managed by international prison operator Serco.
"I'm told on good authority that there is a practice in Mt Eden Correctional Facility that is called 'dropping', where ... new prisoners ... are sized up by gangs, they're bashed up, and they're dropped off the balconies on to the concrete below for good measure.
"That's what happened to prisoner Evans. He was dropped off the balcony, his lung was ruptured, but then he was transferred out of Mt Eden Correctional Facility and sent north to Ngawha.
"People are dying because of Serco. We can't underestimate the damage and the danger."
Mr Evans' parents, Glenn and Julie, did not want to speak publicly yesterday but are known to be seeking answers from Corrections over how their son died.
Mr Evans had served three months of his sentence at the time he was moved from Mt Eden to Ngawha Prison in Northland.
He arrived complaining of pain in his chest but Corrections says he was checked over before being put in a cell. A fresh check in the morning led to him being taken to a medical centre in Kaikohe and then to Whangarei Hospital. He died about two weeks later.
Beven Hanlon, president of the Corrections Association, which covers some prison staff, said he had been told that Mr Evans had arrived in Northland late in the day and in pain.
"From the time he arrived at the prison he could barely stand."
He was told medical treatment was sought the next morning, he said.
He also had been told Mr Evans had been "dropped", Mr Hanlon said, although he was unable to class the information as more solid than a rumour.
In a statement, Corrections Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga said neither he, Corrections nor Serco had heard of "dropping".
If evidence emerged during the review of the prison, ordered after the revelations of violence, there would be "serious consequences".
He also attacked Mr Davis for making political capital over Mr Evans' death and said he should apologise to the young man's family.
Mr Lotu-Iiga's statement did not address questions from the Herald about police involvement but instead pointed to an inquiry by the Corrections Inspectorate, which is overseen by the Office of the Ombudsman.
A Corrections spokeswoman said new information about the death of Mr Evans would be built into inquiries by the coroner, prisons inspector and the clinical health review.
Serco did not respond to questions about calling in police.
A full search of the Mt Eden prison was under way, Serco managing director Scott McNairn said, and a cell phone and charger had been discovered.
"We have not found alcohol, we have found some prescription medication. We have not found illegal drugs at this point," he told Radio New Zealand this morning.
"We have found one cell phone, and a charger, and that has been productioned and will be subject to the inquiry."
He had not seen the phone himself, Mr McNairn said, so could not say whether it was a smartphone capable of connecting to the internet.
"What it does for me is it shows the robustness of the search procedure that we have that we've recovered that," he said.
The search, which started on Monday after Mr McNairn flew to New Zealand, had so far scoured 50 per cent of the prison, he said.
Mr McNairn denied 'dropping' was rife at the Serco-run facility, saying he had not heard of the alleged practice.
"No-one has reported anything like that to us or the department or anyone else that I'm aware of," he told the broadcaster. "If anyone seriously believes that this is happening they must report it to the proper authorities.
"I would say if such a practice was occurring we would expect to see on-going hospital treatment with serious leg injuries on a regular basis and they're not. So, no I've never heard of that phrase, nor have I seen any evidence that that's occurring in this prison."
However, he conceded the facility did have balconies where such incidents could take place. But he defended the placement of un-enclosed balconies in a correctional facility, saying it was "normal for Serco, that's the design of the prison".
The claims of 'dropping' would fall under the scope of an investigation which was also looking into the claims of 'fight clubs' being run inside the Mt Eden prison following the emergence of video footage posted on to the internet last week.
"This will be subject to a wider investigation which is being conducted by the Office of the Chief Inspector," Mr McNairn said.
"I did meet with the Chief Inspector yesterday morning in the prison, I'm in the prison at this point in time, all of these alleged incidents will fall under the scope of the Office of the Chief Inspector and will be investigated thoroughly."
Security at the prison had been beefed up since the 'fight club' footage had emerged, he said.
"We've taken that very seriously, we've put in place robust measures last week in terms of increased security provision at the front of the prions, we've improved the access and control of the exercise yards."
