Acquitted of murdering a fellow inmate at Parklea Correctional Centre in 2020, Emmett Sheard has nevertheless spent more than two-thirds of his adult life behind bars.
Considered an "extreme threat inmate", Sheard, now 35, once pulled out a shiv and stabbed a prisoner he had never met to avoid being transferred to a particular area of the jail.
Much of his time behind bars has been spent in segregation, such is the risk that he poses to the general prison population.
But it was during an exceedingly rare and brief stint in the community in 2023 that Sheard armed himself with a rifle and contacted a Gateshead dealer with a ruse to purchase methamphetamine.
Once inside his home, Sheard pulled the rifle out of his tracksuit pants, made demands about drugs and cash and then shot the dealer and his partner.
He fired five shots, including firing through a closed door and hitting the man in the arm and the woman in the leg.
Prosecutors said it was a "calculated and targeted home invasion" that became a shooting when the victims took cover inside the home.
Sheard and Dakota Clarke, who Sheard bizarrely used as a human shield during the shooting, were accused of attempted murder and faced a trial in Newcastle District Court earlier this year.
The jury ultimately acquitted the pair of attempted murder, but found them guilty of two counts of shooting with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
The pair faced a sentence hearing in NSW District Court on Monday, when Sheard's lengthy criminal history and risks of institutionalisation were outlined.
Sheard's time in jail is well documented and a coronial inquest into the death of Michael Black, who Sheard stabbed to death in a holding cell at Parklea in 2020, focused significantly on the 35-year-old's management behind bars.
Referring to 4000 pages of jail records, Sheard's barrister, Dr Robert Cavanagh, painted a picture of a man who had spent nearly 13 of the last 17 years behind bars and whose mental health had been on a downward spiral since his first incarceration at 18.
He had endured a deprived upbringing, been exposed to domestic violence and drugs from a young age and had started committing crimes to feed his drug habit.
He has since been diagnosed with a number of mental health issues, including cluster B personality disorder with antisocial and borderline traits and post-traumatic stress disorder.
And his time in jail has either been spent in isolation or, when he is released into the general population, he is involved in fights, stabbings and found with jail-made weapons.
As the Newcastle Herald has reported, the stabbing death of Mr Black in a holding cell at Parklea Correctional Centre on April 22, 2020 stemmed from an argument over buprenorphine, an opiate replacement drug.
The prosecution case was that after being bashed by Mr Black, Sheard was "angry and humiliated" and out for revenge when he stabbed Mr Black eight times.
But Sheard gave evidence that he was acting in self-defence after Mr Black suddenly swung at him with a knife.
He said he pulled out his own shiv and the pair "both started punching and stabbing at each other" for about 10 seconds before Mr Black said "all right, that's enough".
Sheard was captured on body-worn video yelling at Mr Black "I hope you die" and, according to detectives, later slashed his own arm to make his injuries look worse.
In July, 2022, a NSW Supreme Court jury acquitted Sheard of murder and manslaughter after finding he was acting in self-defence.
He walked free from the dock, but was back behind bars within eight weeks after being charged over an aggravated break and enter.
He was released in July, 2023 and by September of that year had shot the drug dealer and his partner at Gateshead.
"I can't help but wonder, what does he think he is doing?" Judge Jonathan Priestley said on Monday.
"His life needs to change.
"He already has spent most of his adult life in custody and yet he just goes out and does it again.
"It doesn't really give you any hope for a change, really."
Sheard maintains his innocence, says he wasn't there the night of the shooting and has shown no remorse.
And police allege Sheard is still posing a significant risk behind bars.
He was charged this year with wounding a person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon in a place of detention.
Another jailhouse stabbing.
Judge Priestley will sentence Sheard and Clarke on Friday.
