A man who stabbed himself in the throat while being sentenced on child pornography charges had previously tried to harm himself.
The 29-year-old man, who has name suppression, stabbed himself in a Wellington District Court dock shortly after being sentenced to six months in prison.
The incident happened about 1pm yesterday.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman told the Dominion Post the man had been identified as a potential risk after he had tried to harm himself in a police cell.
As he was being sentenced, two officers were ordered to stand beside him, he said.
The man had been remanded on bail, and was free to come and go.
He has smuggled a knife into the court, hidden in his sock.
Though the court had metal detectors, they were not in use when the man, facing about 32 charges of possessing objectionable material, came to court.
Chief District Court Judge Russell Johnson said the funding "top-up" courts of New Zealand received in the last budget "would not solve the problem, but it would go quite a way", Radio New Zealand reported.
"It will be enough to supply more than 30 security officers. But...there are 66 court houses in the country, and many of those have a dozen or two court rooms in them. Those 33-odd officers, as well as the 50-odd that currently exist, certainly aren't going to do the trick," he said.
Courts Minister Georgina te Heuheu said yesterday the stabbing was a tragedy for the man, his family, court staff and members of the public who witnessed it, and additional security would be added.
"Courts, by their nature, are emotionally tense environments where parties in dispute are brought together," she said.
"Scanning and searching people entering courts is the single most effective way of reducing the risk of security incidents."
In its May budget, the Government said it would spend $9 million on operations and $800,000 on improving court security.
The man was disarmed by court security staff who administered first aid until an ambulance arrived and took him to hospital.
Initially assessed as being in critical condition, the man's physical condition was now stable. He was likely to undergo a psychiatric assessment.
Film footage on TV3's website showed an overweight, shirtless man being led by police and paramedics from the court house to an ambulance, covered in blood and clutching his neck.
- NZPA
Court stabbing man had tried to harm himself before
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