KEY POINTS:
William Bell has been trying to get a firearm for five years and even offered inmates $3000 if they would buy the weapon for him once they were released on parole.
The RSA triple killer is known to have approached "anyone who would listen" in his quest to get a gun that could then be used to help him escape from his life sentence at Auckland Prison, Paremoremo.
One former convict told the Weekend Herald Bell's plan was to contrive an injury and be taken to hospital where his girlfriend would arrive with the gun and help him escape.
The ex-convict, who did not want to be identified, said he was not surprised when he heard that Bell was in hospital this week after being stabbed in the eye by another inmate.
"When I first heard he had gone to hospital I turned around and said to my wife, 'Oh, he offered me $3000 to get a gun and deliver it to his girlfriend'."
The man said he ignored Bell's offer but wasn't the only inmate approached in the maximum security unit.
"He would just go and talk to one person at a time as they were coming up for parole."
Career criminal Arthur William Taylor, currently jailed at Paremoremo and awaiting sentence for his latest escape attempt, told the Weekend Herald Bell's constant talk about escape was no more than fantasy.
He said Bell told everybody who would listen he wanted a gun but his chances of anyone helping him were nil.
Bell had tried to obtain one through Taylor when they were being transported together during his trial for the RSA murders five years ago.
However, Taylor said there was no way he would help Bell.
Taylor, who is in another part of Paremoremo, said he was surprised to hear senior Corrections official Bryan McMurray had been telling the media Bell's stabbing was possibly part of an escape ruse, when it was well known inside the prison that he had really been attacked.
It is understood security camera footage of the attack shows that Bell was assaulted.
* Police yesterday charged a maximum security inmate with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. He is due to appear in the North Shore District Court next week. The man is understood to be Dean Joseph Shepherd, 46. who is serving a life service for the murder of Manurewa landlord Darunee Aphiromlerk.
