Dixon pulls weapon on own lawyer

Prison guards swoop on swordsman

Samurai swordsman Antonie Dixon has been segregated from prisoners at Auckland Central Remand Prison after he pulled a weapon on his own lawyer.

Dixon, 40 who went on a P-fuelled crime spree in 2003, shooting dead a man and severing the hands of two women met with high-profile barrister Barry Hart on January 17 when an "incident" involving a "makeshift weapon" occurred.

Sunday News can reveal prison staff were forced to intervene when Dixon pulled a weapon on Hart, who has acted as his lawyer for two years.

"Staff supervising the meeting between the prisoner and his lawyer saw the prisoner get agitated and attempt to remove what they believed to be a makeshift weapon from his shoe," a Corrections spokeswoman said.

The drama is the second time Dixon awaiting sentence for his 12-hour orgy of violence in 2003 after a retrial last year has been involved in an incident with a weapon inside prison.

In December 2007 Sunday News revealed how Dixon used a fork to try to gouge out the eye of a fellow prisoner who required hospitalisation.

"Staff swiftly intervened before the situation could escalate," Corrections Assistant Regional Manager Grace Smit said in a statement. "Thanks to the quick actions of these staff members, there were no injuries."

Corrections had not involved police and it is understood Hart would not be laying a complaint.

Sources close to both Dixon and Hart confirmed there had been a major breakdown in the pair's relationship.

Several legal sources said Dixon had been meeting with other lawyers.. Hart may withdraw from Dixon's file when a judicial conference is held next week but even if he continues working on the case up to sentencing, he is not expected to work on a bid for a second retrial.

Because Dixon is a legal aid recipient, it is up to the Legal Services Agency to determine whether the breakdown between Dixon and Hart is serious enough to remove the barrister from acting for the notorious prisoner.

The application for a change of lawyer could come from either Hart or Dixon.

Asked if he would continue representing Dixon, Hart replied: "What have you heard?"

Told Corrections had confirmed an incident between a lawyer and prisoner, Hart said "there is no issue" between him and his client and all that was wrong was "(Dixon) has some major mental issues at the moment".

"The issues have deteriorated," Hart said.

He refused to comment further.

Corrections Minister Judith Collins last night confirmed she had been told briefly about the January 17 incident.

She had ordered "a full report on the incident" which she expected later this week.

"I will be finding out what Corrections can do to make sure people like Dixon can't get access to things like knives but first of all I need to find out what actually happened," Collins told Sunday News.

The minister encouraged Hart to speak to police about the incident and consider making a complaint.

"I'm sure they would be very pleased to receive one," she said.

- © Fairfax NZ News