Inmate blinded with fork attacked again

A man blinded after being stabbed with a fork by a fellow inmate has been attacked again and his mother fears for his life.

John Waara, 34, of Palmerston North, lost his sight in both eyes after another prisoner grabbed him from behind and stabbed him in the eyes with a fork in Linton Prison, Palmerston North, last year.

Waara, serving 15 months for burglary, was attacked again last week, he believes by the same prisoner.

His mother, Suzanne Waara, said after the first attack her son asked for home detention because he feared he would be attacked again. It was declined by the courts and he was sent back to prison.

"Why wasn't he being protected? He's blind, he can't see who's coming, who's behind him," she told the Dominion Post.

The Corrections Department said Waara was placed in protective custody after last year's attack, but objected and asked to be returned to the general prison population.

- NZPA