Paremoremo prison, north of Auckland where the country's most violent prisoners are held.

An inmate who died after being assaulted by another prisoner at Auckland Prison has been named by police.

He was Blake John Lee, 25, of Rotorua, Detective Inspector John Sutton confirmed on Friday.

Police were called to the Paremoremo prison, in north Auckland, at about 3pm on Thursday following reports of an inmate-on-inmate assault.

Blake received serious injuries and died at the scene, Sutton said.

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A homicide investigation was underway and a post mortem examination will be carried out.

Corrections chief custodial officer Neil Beales said the prisoner died in the prison yard.

"The alleged perpetrator has been placed on directed segregation in the prison's management unit."

Lee was serving a sentence of seven years and seven months in prison after subjecting his partner to a brutal assault in 2017.

At his trial, the Crown said Lee held his partner captive at their Rotorua home for hours and beat her.

He also poked at her with a weapon similar to a butter knife as she tried to hide under a bed blanket.

Blake's partner told jurors at his trial that she told him to "just stop".

"I remember, like, just touching my leg just to see, like, why it was wet and, like ... I remember, like, holding my hand up to see why my hand was wet and I noticed it was blood, and so I was screaming that I was bleeding and that's when he went out and called his mum."

SUPPLIED Corrections chief custodial officer Neil Beales

Among the woman's injuries were a broken leg and a cut to her ankle.

Lee's partner was eventually able to escape through a window and a neighbour called emergency services.

At Lee's sentencing, a cultural report detailed his background that included an "extremely disadvantaged childhood". He was exposed to violence, drugs and gang culture from a young age.

He went on to become a member of the Mongrel Mob.

Lee unsuccessfully appealed his conviction and sentence.

At the end of it's judgement, the Court of Appeal assessed Lee's prospects for the future.

"...[A]t 25 years of age, Mr Lee is now firmly entrenched in a gang environment and there is no suggestion this is likely to change in the future. His prospects of rehabilitation are therefore low and the risk of future offending is correspondingly high."

Corrections Association president Alan Whitley said he understood the prisoner had been stabbed.

As New Zealand's only specialist maximum-security facility, Paremoremo Prison contains some of the country's most violent offenders.

They include the man accused of the Christchurch mosque shootings and two-time murderer Graeme Burton.

Burton was attacked at the prison in 2018 and managed to survive life-threatening injuries.