Gang member Dean Noble has escaped preventive detention but has been jailed for 11 years for repeatedly raping a teenage inmate who was put in his prison cell.
He has begun the sentence, imposed by Justice Lester Chisholm in the High Court at Christchurch today, still protesting his innocence.
A bid is clearly under way to overturn the verdicts reached by a Christchurch District Court jury at a trial in May when Noble was found guilty of three charges of sexual violation and one of assault.
He called, "I'm innocent," when the charges were read to him at the sentencing today. The crown had had the case transferred to the High Court so that an open-ended sentence of preventive detention could be considered.
Defence counsel Barry Hart said another prisoner had come forward and said the rape complainant had indicated he was going to give false evidence. A second prisoner had come forward to say that the complainant was "being investigated for some deviant conduct with another prisoner".
He said he was still trying to obtain material relating to these allegations, but they explained his client's "vehement attitude" about the convictions.
Prosecutor Pip Currie said the crown was very sceptical because of Noble's history of having witnesses retract statements and make false statements.
Justice Chisholm said the material could only provide background about Noble's attitude and he could not be drawn into the issue at sentencing.
Noble was found guilty of anally raping the teenage inmate twice, and forcing him to provide oral sex at Paparua Prison in 2005.
On one occasion, the victim was bashed unconscious in bed and woke to find he was being raped.
At the time, Noble was serving a six year ten month jail term for violent offending against his partner. Justice John Fogarty had warned him at that sentencing in 2005 that further violence could result in a preventive detention term.
Noble, 41, appeared handcuffed in the dock and flanked by three prison guards.
He had over 60 previous convictions including an escalating pattern of violence, Mrs Currie said. Since his criminal offending began at the age of 14, assaults had progressed to assault with intent to injure, intentional wounding, possession of an offensive weapon, and aggravated robbery.
A series of health assessors' reports, as well as a pre-sentence report, were before Justice Chisholm for the sentencing of the heavily tattooed gang member.
They provided different assessments of his risk of re-offending violently. One referred to the risk as being "alarmingly high" while the probation service described him as "a compliant prisoner who does not present problems in terms of management".
Justice Chisholm noted that Noble had no record of sex offending, and accepted Mr Hart's view that it should be regarded as a one-off.
He said he had agonised over whether there should be preventive detention.
"In the end result I have reached the conclusion that it should not be imposed here. You can count yourself extremely lucky."
Instead, he imposed a finite 11-year term, with a minimum non-parole period of seven years.
