Convicted murderer admits attack on prison guard
File image. © Andrew Bardwell
A 54-year-old man who is seven years into a life term for a Nelson murder that involved a frenzied knife attack has admitted head-butting a prison officer while serving his time at Rolleston Prison.
Bernard Johannas Hekkenberg was jailed for life with a 17-year minimum non-parole term by Justice Lester Chisholm in the High Court at Christchurch in May 2007. He had already served time in custody on remand ahead of the sentencing.
Hekkenberg has been doing work with a work party at what the police described today as The Christchurch Rebuild Yard.
When he returned to the prison’s Rimu Unit from doing the work on October 11, he was required to undergo a strip search, but objected. He head-butted an officer causing a cut on the officer’s nose from the frame of his glasses.
Hekkenberg pleaded guilty in the Christchurch District Court today before Judge Emma Smith to the charge of assaulting the Senior Corrections Officer who was acting in the execution of his duty.
Defence counsel Carol Morgan said Hekkenberg had taken exception to the random strip search but now accepted that his reaction had been “unacceptable and over-stated”.
He wanted to apologise to the prison officer but had not been able to yet because after being charged he had been transferred to the remand wing. He wanted to meet the officer at a restorative justice meeting.
Judge Emma Smith noted that he had no history of this type of offending during his eight years in prison, though he had previously had a significant history of violence – something that was noted at his murder sentencing.
Since it was the only option, she imposed a two-month concurrent jail term for the assault.
Hekkenberg was calm and co-operative throughout the appearance by video-link from the prison. He thanked the judge, and she wished him luck.
Before his trial, Hekkenberg admitted the charge of murdering 34-year-old Damien Marshal Nicholson, his daughter’s partner, in a 2am home invasion when Hekkenberg was armed with a mallet and a knife.
He pleaded guilty when a psychiatric report then indicated he was suffering from depression but he had no major psychiatric illness.
Hekkenberg was upset about an argument the previous day when his daughter and Mr Nicholson had told him he must move out of the caravan where he was staying on the property. Feeling he had been humiliated, he returned to the house during the night and stabbed the victim 18 times during the struggle that followed. One stab wound struck the heart.
Category: Focus
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