A man has received a jail sentence for joining in on a cell block bashing and slamming a fellow inmate's hand in a door at a Hunter prison.
Newcastle District Court Judge Roy Ellis on Thursday afternoon backdated Bryce Mitchell Harding's two-year-and-seven-month sentence to January 2023 and gave him a "generous" non-parole period, which meant he would be released from custody this April.
The court heard that Harding joined three other men - convicted killer Wade Basanovic, Haysam Zreika and Tareek Hamzy - to assault fellow inmate David Hermosilla in Shortland Correctional Centre's G-block on May 4, 2022.
The attack began when Hermosilla entered Basanovic's cell and struck him in the head, triggering a brawl.
Harding eventually slammed a cell door closed on Hermosilla's hand.
"Quite a number of bones were broken in this man's hand and it required surgery to repair it," Judge Ellis said.
Two charges of affray were taken into account when Judge Ellis sentenced Harding on Thursday for assault occasioning grievous bodily harm.
He said Harding's mental health was a "considerable contributor to his participation in this particular offence", and required special circumstances during sentencing - which led to a reduced non-parole period.
Judge Ellis also upheld an appeal Harding made over a sentence for a previous, unrelated, brawl and assault, meaning it would have no impact on his expected April release date.
Basanovic - who was serving a sentence for the manslaughter of senior Hells Angels outlaw motorcycle gang member Zeljko "Steve" Mitrovic at the time of the attack - was previously sentenced to a maximum of 19 months in jail for the bashing.
Hamzy and Zreika received nine and 18-month jail terms respectively, after they each pleaded guilty to affray, while Hermosilla was sentenced to three months in jail for common assault.
