Axe murderer Marcus Rappel's mother has told a court her son would have made a "fantastic father" if the opportunity hadn't been "taken away from him" when he was jailed.
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Rappel, 45, was sentenced in 2017 to 32 years and two months in prison for brutally killing his former partner Tara Costigan with an axe as she cradled their week-old baby in her arms.
Last year, he was sentenced to a further six years for an attack on two brothers in Canberra's Alexander Maconochie Centre. He is now due to be sentenced for another prison assault, and faces his non-parole period being extended beyond February 2044.
In the ACT Magistrates Court on Wednesday, Rappel appeared via video link from the notorious Goulburn Supermax prison, where his defence lawyer, Peter Bevan, said he was going to be transferred from soon.
His mother, Shirley Jabornicky, 73, joined the court over the phone to give evidence. Magistrate James Stewart is due to sentence Rappel on April 15 for punching a prison guard.
Rappel has pleaded guilty to one count of common assault.
Mr Stewart on Wednesday asked Ms Jabornicky whether she "still saw good" in Rappel, or whether he was all bad.
"It's all good except for a dreadful, dreadful thing he did on a particular day," Ms Jabornicky said.
She said Rappel was a good son, worker, and brother, and that he would have made a "fantastic" father - but all those things had been taken away from him when he went to jail.
The court heard Rappel will be 70-years-old if he is released from prison in line with his current non-parole period.
"I believe if you've got one friend in the world, it's your mum," Ms Jabornicky said.
"I don't see how the sentence he has is going to make anyone a better person, particularly when he has to fight for his survival every day."
Rappel told the court he would "never cry victim" and he would "roll with the punches" because he did "a horrible thing".
"I'm not a victim in this, I'm a perpetrator, and I know this," he said.
Ms Jabornicky said Rappel had a "target on his back" since he was arrested for killing Ms Costigan. When Rappel had not long been at Canberra's jail, prison guards told other inmates he was the reason why they were getting long sentences for domestic violence offences, she said.
Ms Jabornicky said one prison guard told Rappel he would be transferred to Goulburn Correctional Centre if he did not behave. He later was transferred there, and on Wednesday, Mr Bevan said the transfer made Rappel's circumstances "special" because Rappel did not expect to serve his sentence in NSW.
"Serving a sentence in NSW is harsher than serving a sentence in the AMC," Mr Bevan said.
He said Canberra's jail was a human rights prison, whereas Goulburn Supermax was not. Ms Jabornicky described it as "the worst prison in the country" and said Rappel was being assaulted by other inmates at Goulburn.
Prosecutor Anna Jamieson-Williams said Rappel's present situation at Goulburn was irrelevant in sentencing, because he would soon be relocated to either Windsor or Kempsey prison in NSW.
Mr Stewart said Ms Jamieson-Williams and Mr Bevan would have more time to submit written arguments ahead of him handing down Rappel's sentence for the common assault.