RSA triple-killer William Bell has apologised for his "horrendous" crimes, before accusing Corrections officers of unfairness and unconscious bias today.
Auckland High Court. Photo: justice.govt.nz
Bell is in the High Court seeking a judicial review of his security rating and urging a judge to consider if he is being doubly punished.
His meth-fuelled rampage at Panmure RSA in 2001 left three people dead, branded him as one of the country's worst killers, and resulted in a life sentence with a 30-year non-parole period at Paremoremo Prison.
Now 17 years into his sentence, Bell is representing himself in the High Court, with help via the phone from fellow inmate Thomas Cheng.
Standing in the dock and reading from a statement this afternoon, he first took the opportunity to speak to his crimes.
"I'd like to pause here and say that I'm not proud of what I did. I have committed a horrendous crime, that is reprehensible in any society," he said.
"No amount of words can ever replace the loss and the sorrow and the sufferings that I have caused the victims."
Yet Bell told the court the rule of law applies to everyone, "saints, sinners and all in between".
He told the court that Corrections officers at his prison had failed to comply with the standards.
He said a fellow inmate called 0800 Crimestoppers in August last year, and claimed Bell was hatching a plan to escape.
They said he would do so by taking a female prison staff member hostage.
Bell had his low-to-medium security rating temporarily bumped up to maximum, stripping him of the ability to work in the prison kitchen.
He said there had been minimal effort from Corrections officers to investigate whether there was any truth to the anonymously provided claims.
"Prisoners have a legitimate expectation that the prison officers would follow their own principals, policies and procedures," he said.
Bell told the court he wanted prison staff held to account, because a maximum security rating "isn't something to be trivialised".
"The case I bring to the courts is one example where public officials have not complied with the standards and obligations that the law demands of them when carrying out their duties. It speaks of unfairness and perhaps unconcious bias," he said.
Bell urged Justice Mark Woolford to consider his track record as a "well-behaved" prisoner.
"I have never escaped. My intention is not to escape. I've done 20 years in this place. I've only 10 years left to do before first [parole] board."
The High Court hearing is expected to take two days.
