A prisoner who tried to kill a fellow inmate at Auckland Prison in Paremoremo has been sentenced to preventive detention and a minimum of 10 years in prison.
Notorious killer Steven Williams attacked another convicted murderer, Nikki Roper, behind bars late last year.
He stabbed Roper with two fluorescent light tubes and then attacked him with a broom handle.
Justice Toogood said Roper had come to Williams' cell to get some tattoos on his back when the attack happened.
"At some point you picked up a fluorescent light tube which you had broken and hidden, and stabbed Roper in the neck so that shards of glass went into the wound. You then put him into a choke hold."
The court heard Roper lost consciousness, but Williams continued to attack him.
"You stomped him on the head, and then picked up a broom and struck him across the head so hard that it broke. You then stabbed him in the back of the neck with the broken broom handle. He then remained unconscious while you continued to attack him."
Crown lawyer Scott McColgan told the court it was a sustained and ferocious attack.
Mr McColgan said Williams had planned the attack for a month after building a trusting relationship with Roper, and purposely lured him into a cell where there was no CCTV footage.
In delivering the sentence Justice Toogood said Williams had made it clear he was annoyed Roper had survived the attack.
"When you spoke to police you said you didn't like him because he narked on you. You said you intended to kill him and you couldn't believe he was still alive.
"The brutality of the attack is chilling and disturbing".
The court heard Williams no longer wants to be released from prison.
"You've been institutionalised and you say you do not wish to ever have a life outside prison. Violence has become the norm for you and you lack any consideration for the consequences of your actions."
Williams is already serving a life sentence for bashing his 6-year-old stepdaughter Coral-Ellen Burrows to death during a P-fuelled rage in Featherston in 2003.
Roper, who was taken to Auckland Hospital after the attack, is also serving a life sentence for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Alexis Tovizi in Christchurch in 2010.
Williams has already been convicted for a previous stabbing in jail, while Roper has already been a victim of a serious attack while inside.
Newshub.
