A convicted murderer, jailed over the brutal killing of a service station worker at Queanbeyan in 2017, has been sentenced to more time behind bars, after he pleaded guilty to a terrifying six-hour long attack on a prison guard.
WARNING: this story contains graphic details and language that some readers may find distressing.
At one point during the attack on the prison guard, the man pulled up the guard's head, put a makeshift weapon to his throat and said:
"I'll end him … I've killed before and I'll kill again. I don't give a f***."
Details revealed in the New South Wales District Court sentencing remarks, said the man and fellow prisoner, Noel Barrett, 25, had begun asking for buprenorphine (opiate) injections the day before the incident.
The court said the next day the pair attacked two guards from behind as they were entering an office.
"You c****s are dead. You c****s are gonna die," one of them said as they overcame the officers.
One of the guards managed to press his duress alarm, bringing help.
After a struggle, he ended up outside the office, but the other officer had been forced to the ground and remained inside.
The second officer was subjected to a terrifying and prolonged ordeal, where he was repeatedly beaten and threatened with being stabbed by the man.
When a negotiator arrived, the man demanded the drug he had been asking for.
"I want my Bupe injection," he said, adding that he would stab the officer if it was not provided.
Guard endures six hours trapped with violent offenders
During the incident, a box was placed over the prison officer's head, disinfectant was poured over him, and he was repeatedly hit in the head with threats to set him alight.
"I will end him. I have nothing to lose. I will cut his f***ing throat," the man said, as the events were captured on a body-worn camera.
Barrett had tied the officer up with a skipping rope, as staff outside the room tried to negotiate a solution.
After nearly six hours, the pair gave up when they were told they would be assessed for the buprenorphine program.
They then laid on the floor and were taken back into custody and transferred to the High Risk Offender Management Correctional Centre at Goulburn.
The court said the guard trapped in the office suffered bruising, cuts, stab wounds and serious chemical burns which are continuing to cause problems.
Both officers have suffered significant psychological distress since.
'Very significant part of his life in prison'
In his sentencing remarks, Judge Andrew Coleman said "there can be no doubt the offences committed by the offenders were grave".
He noted that both men had experienced traumatic childhoods, marked by violence and deprivation, but he said that did not eliminate the need for deterrence in sentencing.
Judge Coleman found that, while Barrett had guarded prospects for rehabilitation, the other man had very poor prospects.
"He will have spent a very significant part of his life in prison when he becomes eligible for release for these offences. I find his prospects of reoffending are high."
Judge Coleman sentenced the younger man to 13 years' jail, with a non-parole period of eight years and six months.
The sentence will begin in November 2037 and end in 2050.
Barrett has been sentenced to 10 more years' jail and will be eligible for parole in 2029.
