One of Australia’s most notorious and high-risk prisoners shocked a New South Wales court on Thursday when he elected to legally represent himself in the dock – and won.
Bassam Hamzy, 39, appeared before Goulburn Local Court to defend himself in a case that was centred around a small package corrective services officers found near his cell at Goulburn’s Supermax prison in May 2017.
Contained inside the package was a mobile phone, SIM card and USB card.
Bassam Hamzy (pictured) appeared before Goulburn Local Court to defend himself in a case that was centered around a small package corrective services officers found near his cell at Goulburn’s Supermax prison in May 2017
Contained inside the package was a mobile phone, SIM card and USB card
Hamzy – consulting handwritten notes he’d evidently scribbled himself and employing proper legal lingo – managed to single-handedly convince a magistrate that the objects did not belong to him, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Magistrate Geraldine Beattie noted that Hamzy was more ‘articulate’ than most self-representing criminals when it came to knowledge of the law.
This despite the fact that he was not even wearing socks in the bracingly cold country courthouse.
The incriminating package in question was discovered during a comprehensive raid of Hamzy’s jail cell and adjoining day room, which saw officers X-ray every item, jiggle light fixtures and check toilets for contraband.
It wasn’t until one of the officers stood on top of a mini-fridge and a ladder that they located the smuggled goods, wrapped in foil and stashed in the day room’s roofline.
The incriminating package in question was discovered during a comprehensive raid of Hamzy’s jail cell and adjoining day room in Goulburn’s Supermax jail
Hamzy was viewed as a leading suspect not only for the fact that he had sole access to the area, but also in light of his historic offences – though the magistrate ultimately dismissed the case
Hamzy was viewed as a leading suspect not only for the fact that he had sole access to the area, but also in light of his historic offences.
In 2008, Hamzy was caught running a lucrative criminal syndicate from inside Lithgow jail, using a smuggled phone to make hundreds of calls a day.
In 2016, another mobile phone was discovered in his Supermax jail cell.
But when presented with and interrogated about these newly found items, Hamzy plainly denied that he had ‘Never seen them before’.
‘All those items were found together and there is a real possibility that those items don’t belong to me,’ he told Detective Sergeant Matthew Woods during a cross-examination.
‘It’s unreasonable to expect me to check these crevices or suspect there is going to be something secreted in the roofline.
‘They needed ladders to find that stuff.’
Hamzy is serving time at Goulburn Supermax for murder, conspiracy to murder and commercial drug supply after being jailed at the age of 20
Hamzy, who is known as a hard-line Islamic extremist and recruiter, also pointed out that there was a photo on the USB of a man wearing a T-shirt sporting the words ‘F**k Islam’ – an image that appeared to fly in the face of Hamzy’s strong views.
Magistrate Beattie found there was reasonable doubt as to whether Hamzy knew the items were there, and declared that there was insufficient evidence to confirm how thoroughly the day room had been searched before he actually moved in to the cell.
The charge was ultimately dismissed.
Hamzy is serving time at Goulburn Supermax for murder, conspiracy to murder and commercial drug supply after being jailed at the age of 20.
It is believed Hamzy and companion Damien Featherstone – who was released from the NSW prison in December – recruited and radicalised other inmates to form the Illawarra chapter for the Brothers 4 Life motorcycle gang.