A corrections officer says he wouldn't have let a guard, later fatally punched by an inmate, unlock that inmate's cell if he'd known about threats against him, an inquest has been told.
Prison guard Jason Palmer was fatally punched by inmate Latu Kepu at the Spring Hill corrections facility in the Waikato in May last year.
Mr Palmer was unlocking Kepu's cell when Kepu punched him in the face. He hit his head on the concrete floor and died of his injuries in Middlemore Hospital.
Kepu admitted manslaughter and was jailed six years and four months in prison.
Corrections officer Richard De Thierry told a coroner's inquest on Monday that he was with Mr Palmer when Kepu's cell was unlocked.
He said that Kepu walked out of his cell directly towards Mr Palmer. Kepu said something and then punched Mr Palmer in the face.
The inquest heard earlier from corrections officer Roger Hinton that Kepu had made two threats against Mr Palmer the day of the attack but Mr Hinton did not tell senior officers.
Mr De Thierry said he was unaware of the threats, but had he known about them, he said he would not have let Mr Palmer unlock the cell.
Mr De Thierry also said Kepu could be a "bit of a bully" towards officers and other prisoners.
The inquest heard earlier on Monday that Kepu had just been reclassified as a maximum security prisoner when he punched Mr Palmer.
The inquest continues.
NZN