Benton Marni Parata, 44, died in hospital five days after he was assaulted by three fellow inmates at the high-security Rawhiti unit at Christchurch Men's Prison.
Benton Marni Parata, 44, died in hospital five days after he was assaulted by three fellow inmates at the high-security Rawhiti unit at Christchurch Men's Prison.
Prison guards have been criticised for delays in responding to a brutal bashing that saw a respected older inmate kicked to death in his cell.
Benton Marni Parata, 44, died in hospital five days after he was assaulted by three fellow inmates at the high-security Rawhiti unit at Christchurch Men's Prison.
The planned March 2015 attack came after Parata reminded one of the men to respect his elders while behind bars.
Akuhatua Tihi, 22, Levi Hohepa Reuben, 21, and Steven Betham, 36, denied murdering the fellow inmate at a High Court trial.
Tihi was jailed for life with a non-parole term of 13 years, while Reuben was sentenced to six years and six months imprisonment, with a minimum non-parole period of three-and-a-half years, and six years for Betham, both for manslaughter
An inquest into Parata's death is being held at Christchurch today before Coroner Marcus Elliott.
Parata walked into his cell at 9.22am. Tihi followed him in, with his hands bound in white tape, followed by Reuben and then Betham, the High Court heard earlier.
In a little less than 90 seconds, Parata was battered around the head so badly, that he would later die from his injuries.
Inmates Steven Betham, Levi Hohepa Reuben and Akuhatua Tihi were accused of Benton Parata's prison killing. Photo / Pool
Parata lay seriously injured in his cell for around 42 minutes before he was found lying on his bed by prison guard Vaughn Hampton.
With a cut above his left eye, and a swollen right eye, an unusually messy cell for the "house-proud" prisoner, with blood on toilet paper and his pillow, Hampton knew he'd been assaulted.
But when he spoke to Parata, the inmate responded by waving him off, "I'm okay boss".
Hampton continued to lock up other prisoners before he raised the assault with a senior colleague in the control room just 10m from Parata's cell.
It took five minutes and 49 seconds for Hampton, along with his senior officer, to return to Parata's cell since his first check.
His condition had deteriorated by then, the inquest heard.
A nurse was called and she immediately called for an ambulance, which took another 15-20 minutes to arrive.
He was rushed to hospital with what a pathologist later said were extensive blunt force injuries to head, face and neck. He died five days later.
Today, Parata's family was critical of the prison guard's response, especially in not making a "break-break" call on his radio, which would've raised an urgent message for help.
The inquest heard that the routine for inmates in the Rawhiti unit – which houses many gang members and other classified prisoners - had changed that day after several staff members attended a funeral.
But Hampton said there were actually more staff on as half the prisoners were kept in cells that morning while the rest were let out too for inside recreation time. They were to swap over in the afternoon.
If Parata was non-responsive or saying he needed help, Hampton would have made a break-break call, he said today.
He continued to lock up the other prisoners because Parata had talked to him, and he wasn't sure who the attackers were, or where they were.
Hampton admitted he had no medical training and only first-aid skills. He's since been moved off the Rawhiti wing.
If he'd known just how badly injured Parata was, Hampton says he would've done things much differently that day.
Dr Claudio De Tommasi, a Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) neurosurgeon consultant, was not sure Parata would've survived, even with earlier intervention.
