Prison officer clubbed with broom by inmate

Press, 3 December 1987, Page 23

Prison officer clubbed with broom by inmate

A prison inmate in bright red non-issue braces had been the centre of attention in the central wing at Paparua Prison as inmates were released from the cells, moments before a prison officer was clubbed to the floor with the head of a broom used like a sledge hammer.

This was related to Judge Erber and a jury in the District Court during the trial of Kupa Guthrie, aged 29, a prison inmate.

Guthrie has pleaded not guilty to charges of injuring Melvyn George Butler with intent to cause grievous bodi’y harm and assaulting Anthony Graham Palmer on June 13. The trial will finish today.

Mr Brent Stanaway appears for the Crown and Mr Philip Hall for Guthrie.

Mr Stanaway said that about 8 a.m. on Saturday, June 13, Messrs Butler and Palmer, prison officers, were on duty in the central wing of Paparua Prison, as inmates were released from their cells.

Guthrie picked up a heavy broom, came up behind the two officers, swung it from head height and struck Mr Butler on the rear of the head. Mr Butler fell to the floor unconscious. Then Guthrie struck Mr Butler four or five heavy

blows to the upper body with such force that the head came off the broom. When Mr Palmer went to his aid Guthrie struck him several blows with the broom handle before Guthrie was overpowered by prison officers and an inmate. Mr Butler suffered a depressed fracture of the skull, a cut to the back of his head, a bruised shoulder and forehead and lacerations to the kidney area. The injuries would have long-term consequences.

At 12.45 p.m. Guthrie admitted to Constable G. F. O’Carroll that he had hit Mr Butler over the head with the broom because he was sick of jail and wanted to be put back in segregation, Mr Stanaway said. Melvyn George Butler said that he had been a prison officer since 1979. On June 13 he started duty at 6 a.m. as officer in charge of the central wing.

At 8 a.m. the Inmates were released from their cells for the meal and medical parades. The wing contained 115 inmates. He called out in a loud voice for the inmates to assemble for the medical parade. “I heard an inmate remark something about me shouting so loud and I remember nothing after that,” Mr Butler said. He came to in the

medical block and was taken to Christchurch Hospital where he spent 12 days.

Mr Butler said that he had little to do with Guthrie who was “a bit of a loner.” There had been no exchange between them in recent months. There was still a dent in his head and he suffered from headaches and a numbness in his right arm and leg because of nerve damage. He was still receiving medical attention but was back at work on limited duties. To Mr Hall Mr Butler said that he could not think of any reason why Guthrie would want to attack him. There were a number of gang members, including Mongrel Mob and Black Power members in the central wing. Incidents of violence occurred between inmates from time to time.

Doesn’t the gang element run the central wing? — They dominate other inmates by sheer weight of numbers.

On occasions some inmates were seriously injured during the clashes, Mr Butler agreed.

Mr Butler said that he was aware that Guthrie had just been returned from the west wing security block where he had been in solitary after fighting with another inmate some weeks before. He did not know that Guthrie was to remain in solitary. On that morning there was no tension in the air in the central wing and he did not sense that anything was pending, Mr Butler said to Mr Hall.

Anthony Palmer, a prison officer, said that he was rostered to do the medical parade. He saw an inmate coming down the stairs wearing a pair of bright red non-issue braces. Mr Butler had remarked: "He shouldn’t be wearing those. Where did he get them?”

"Then I saw something flash past my right shoulder and I realised that a broom was being used like a sledge hammer. It hit Mr Butler on the head. He fell straight to the floor and did not move,” said Mr Palmer. Guthrie, who was wield-

ing the broom, raised it and struck Mr Butler, who was lying face down on the floor, again and the head came off the handle. Holding the handle with both hands Guthrie had raised it above his head and brought it down with considerable force. Mr Butler did not move and lay there with his head in a pool of blood.

Guthrie continued to hit Mr Butler about the body with all the force he could muster.

“I had two thoughts, the first was that he was going to kill him and the second was that I have got to stop him.”

When he went for Guthrie he turned around and swung the broom handle at him. Guthrie was still holding it with both hands. Mr Palmer said that he was struck on *the left shoulder and his cap was knocked off with the follow-through. He received three or four blows before other prison officers arrived to assist him.

After Guthrie was restrained he was put in the nearest cell.

A small stream of blood was trickling from Mr Butler’s head to a low spot on the floor.

“I thought he was dead,” Mr Palmer said. To Mr Hall Mr Palmer said that there was no earthly reason why the attack should have occurred. If an inmate has a run in with a gang member he becomes the enemy of other gang inmates? — I wouldn’t know.

Witness agreed that everything had happened very quickly and added that Guthrie had been trying to do as much damage as possible. There was no warning before the outburst. Guthrie acted as though he was in a frenzied state like a madman? — I wouldn’t know.

It was the first time he had seen an incident as bad as that.

The inmate had gone berserk? — It was a vicious assault.

While it was accepted that Guthrie attacked the IJi two prison officers, the

defence was that he did not deliberately Intend to harm them, Mr Hall said when opening the defence case. Because of his state of mind Guthrie was not capable of forming the necessary intent. It was also contended that Guthrie was acting in self-defence when he committed the attack. At the time he wielded the broom he believed that he was about to be fatally attacked by members of the Mongrel Mob. The defence said that Guthrie had acted in a frenzy as soon as he came out of his cell in the belief that his life was in danger. He had been subjected to standover tactics by the Mongrel Mob and he had been threatened by gang members and their associates. In February Guthrie had been put in to solitary after a run-in with gang members and an inmate named Smith with whom he had a fight. Both men had been fairly seriously injured. In solitary Guthrie was spending 23 hours out of 24 alone in his cell. His fears mounted and he was not sleeping. His fears, real or imaginary, escalated. He did not want to leave the safety of solitary. There was no intention by Guthrie to hurt either officer. He had acted in a wild uncontrollable manner, not realising what he was doing, Mr Hall said. In evidence Guthrie said that he started his two-year sentence in April, 1986, and until February of this year he had no real problem with either the staff or the inmates. A big change had taken place in the jail because of the gangs and overcrowding which had resulted in violence. Because of that and the fact that he had no work he decided to take up cane work. He got a friend to send him $4OO for supplies and tools. Someone on the outside arranged to buy his work.

After he started cane work he was criticised by some of the inmates who hated him because he was doing something for himself. “There are so many dead or negative persons in prison,” Guthrie said. After he had been making baskets for some weeks four Mongrel Mob members and Smith came to his cell. They told him he must be doing all right and demanded a loan. Smith said that he wanted a couple of cheap baskets. When he told him that all his work had been sold Smith got up tight. The Mongrel Mob started to get heavy and threatened and abused him. They called him a creep because he would not give them anything. The knife he used in his cane work was grabbed by one of the Mongrel Mob. He was seized and held up against the wall with the knife at his throat and he was told that if they did not get a cheap loan he would “get it.”

The gang members said that they would return after tea for the money and the baskets. They took his cane knife. He knew they were serious and that he was outnumbered.

He could not tell the prison officers “because you’ve got to play by the jungle rules” but he did discuss the matter with other inmates. He decided that he was not going to be stood over by the Mongrel Mob. “They’re just mongrel dogs.” After tea they were leaning over the rail opposite his cell and he knew they were out to get him, Guthrie said. When he first went to prison he worked as a barber and had a pair of broken scissors. He had tied one blade to a piece of wood so that it could be used as a dagger.

He knew that he should never get caught in his cell in those circumstances. On walking out the door he was attacked from both sides. He was trapped on the landing and could not escape except by jumping over the side.

His head was split open by an iron bar but he managed to wound Smith. The attack was broken up by prison officers.

Because of the incident he was put in the punishment block. The Mongrel Mob was not happy because he had fought back and beaten it. The gang did not like losing.

Guthrie said that when he was told he would have to leave the segregation block he refused to

return to the east wing where it was certain that he would be bashed by the Mongrel Mob. He expected that he would be stabbed. Eventually he ended up in the Central wing.

As he walked to his cell he got bad vibes and could feel the Mongrel Mob watching him. He spent the night pacing up and down the cell and never slept. A couple of guys had made threats to him through the peep hole. His cell mate told him that three or four of them were waiting to attack him and he knew they meant business. Because of his state of confusion and fear he became light-headed. “I was going places in my mind, I tell you. I didn’t know where the attack was coming from. I thought I was fighting the whole jail. I was getting a bit loose in the head,” Guthrie said.

He told the night staff of his fears and they offered to get him out of the wing but there were no other places he could be put in the jail, which was full.

He asked that his cell’ door not be opened in the morning but it was. On looking out he saw a group of Inmates coming towards him. He “freaked right out” and went back in the cell.

On hearing a loud scream he lost his head and he charged out swing-

ing the broom. It was not until he was locked back in a cell that he realised that he had attacked prison officers. Inmates came up to the peep hole and said mad things like: “Good one, you just bashed Butler with the broom,” Guthrie said. Guthrie said he did not intend to hit Mr Butler, or anybody. It was out of fear or paranoia. He would like to have seen somebody else in that position, and what they would do. There were no back doors to cells and “you’re like a rat backed up against a wall.”

He said he felt shocked about Mr Butler. He still was not guilty because he never intended to do that to him.

Cross-examined, he said he believed some inmates were coming back after having threatened him in the morning for some money. He was asked if the situation was that he had not seen himself in real danger and approached a prison officer, but instead had armed himself with a home-made knife.

He said nobody went to a prison officer. It was a sick rule but a general’ rule.

Referring to the team being on protection he said this was protection from other inmates but it was swamped by child molesters. He did not think he could live with himself, living with them.