The attack on the prison guard, which came a few days after a law stating assaulting on-duty police or prison officers was an aggravating feature to a charge of assault, occurred whilst Gillies had been angry over not having access to a phone call at a requested timeslot.
"You hit the clipboard out of his hands. He decided that he should talk to you in the foyer away from other prisoners,'' Judge Harrop said.
As the guard opened the door, Gillies lunged at him and "punched him with force to the right side of his head.''
He punched him again after he lost consciousness.
In relation to the Waimarama incident, Judge Harrop said it was "a nasty, unprovoked and entirely unjustified assault on Mr Hamlin.'' Mr Barlow, who Gillies threatened with assault, had also made an effort to be friendly with his attacker at a previous meeting.
Gillies shot to notoriety in 1993 when he stabbed police officer Nigel Hendrikse with a screwdriver, leaving him permanently disabled.
He hit headlines again in 2000 as one of four inmates awarded $325,000 in compensation for being beaten.
The 42-year-old has also received $4500 of public-funded laser treatment to remove a Mongrel Mob tattoo from his left cheek.
