Mert Ney: Mikaela Dunn killer sentenced for prison attack, pour boiling water over inmate

Convicted murderer Mert Ney - who killed a woman before embarking on a violent frenzy Sydney’s CBD in 2019 - has been sentenced for a prison attack when he poured a kettle full of boiling water on a fellow inmate.

Mert Ney was arrested by police in Sydney’s CBD on 13 August 2019. He has pleaded guilty to murdering Michaela Dunn.. (Twitter: David Vaux)

Convicted murderer Mert Ney, who killed sex worker Mikaela Dunn before embarking on a violent frenzy Sydney’s CBD in 2019, has been sentenced to a further 15 months jail for throwing a kettle full of boiling water on a prison inmate.

The 24-year-old appeared via videolink at Penrith District Court after pleading guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm over the prison attack in February 2021, which caused the victim to suffer severe burns with “yellow, bubbling blisters”.

Agreed facts state Ney was seen on CCTV to arm himself with a kettle in the kitchen before pacing up and down the hallway outside the man’s cell.

Ney then burst into the unsuspecting man’s cell and flung the water on him causing immediate burns to his shoulders, back and chest.

The court heard Ney was not remorseful for the attack because the inmate had reportedly threatened to kill his mother, telling him: “I am going to kill your mother when I get out”.

Mert Ney is escorted from a Corrective Services transport vehicle in 2021.

However there was some confusion in the court whether this threat was made before or after Ney poured boiling water on the man.

A lawyer appearing for Ney argued his client was trying to protect himself from being “stood over” as his “small stature” and “social awkwardness” made him a target.

Mert Ney pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing Michaela Dunn in Sydney in 2019.

“He has a heightened sense of his own physical vulnerability and is housed with the worst types of offenders, the man had threatened him and he was fearful for his safety,” the lawyer said.

Ney’s lawyer also said his client couldn’t ask prison authorities for help because “it would effectively make him a dog in the prison system”.

The crown prosecutor said Ney hadn’t been provoked, rather he was “using violence as a means to an end ... again.”

“He was hovering in the kitchen, he wasn’t hiding in his cell trying to protect himself. It was not impulsive, it was malicious,” she said.

The court also heard Ney suffered from depression, emotional regulation issues, “perhaps a personality disorder” and may be diagnosed with schizophrenia in the future.

Judge Sophie Beckett accepted that mental health issues may have indirectly affected his offending but said Ney must understand “continued violence in jail will result in a longer time in custody.”

He was sentenced to another fifteen months in prison with eight months non-parole expiring in May 2055.