A maximum security prisoner has confirmed stomping on an unconscious prisoner as he lay on the ground but says he had no intention to kill the fellow inmate.

Lopeti Telefoni is one of three prisoners charged with murdering inmate Blake Lee and began giving evidence in his own defence at the High Court in Auckland on Wednesday.

CCTV footage of the fight in March 2020 has been played in court and shows Telefoni punch Lee in the head before Lee fell to the ground.

Another prisoner repeatedly stomped on and stabbed Lee with a shank, or makeshift weapon.

The prisoner with the shank has interim name suppression and has admitted a charge of murder.

The Crown says Telefoni, together with Riki Wiremu Ngamoki and Paul Simon Tuliloa helped the prisoner with the shank by fighting with Lee’s friend, Cesar Su’a and stopping Su’a from helping Lee.

Under cross examination from Crown prosecutor David Johnstone, Telefoni said he beleived he knocked Lee out with one punch before the another prisoner began stomping and stabbing him.

Johnstone pointed out that during the fight, while Lee was on the ground, unconscious Telefoni had also stomped on Lee's head.

“I’ve seen jail fights like this where people got stomped in the head like this and no one dies.”

Telefoni confirmed that he had been involved in a fight with Lee’s friend, Cesar Su’a and at one point looked back at Lee on the ground. He continued fighting.

Earlier in his evidence Telefoni said he had only been in the maximum security unit for two days before the attack.

He told the jurors that he spent 23 hours a day in his cell. His one hour in the yard was used for exercise, playing cards and chatting to other prisoners.

Telefoni said on the day of Lee’s death, he entered the yard to find seven other prisoners there already.

He said he felt “paranoid” because he knew if there was an incident, staff could only enter the yard once they had enough to meet a ratio of three officers to one prisoner.

Paul Simon Tuliloa in the dock at the High Court in Auckland.

Telefoni said he began walking up and down, chatting to the prisoner with name suppression when he said Lee made a hand signal of a rival gang.

“I kind of feared for my safety, so yeah, I punched him,” Telefoni said.

Telefoni confirmed to his lawyer Emma Priest that he hit Lee with a hard punch.

“He was bigger than me and I wanted to minimise the risk of me being a victim, yeah.”

Telefoni said Su’a, who had been walking with Lee, then threw a punch at him.

Priest asked him about the prisoner armed with a shank.

“I was shocked someone could get a weapon in the yard.”

He said prisoners were routinely searched before entering the yard. Officers used a metal detector and also conducted pat-down searches.

Riki Wiremu Ngamoki in the dock at the High Court in Auckland.

“I don’t know about anything he done. What I done was on my own actions, nothing was planned. We didn’t talk about assaulting anyone. Whatever he done is his problem.”

He described having “tunnel vision” and didn’t know the prisoner he was with had a shank until after the attack.

Telefoni confirmed that at one point in the fight he stomped on Lee.

Asked why by Priest, Telefoni confirmed it was intentional.

“I don’t know why I was stomping on him...”

He repeatedly denied that there had been any plan to attack Lee.

“I just wanted to assault Lee. I didn’t know he was going to die that day. I didn’t have any intention in killing Mr Lee, I just assaulted him.”

The trial, before Justice Simon Moore and a jury, is in its second week.