Zeeshan Akbar was killed while working as a station attendant in Queanbeyan in April 2017. Photo: Region.
CONTENT WARNING: This article may distress some readers.
A brutal prison hostage incident involving the young murderer who killed a service station worker in Queanbeyan has resulted in a $600,000 fine for the NSW Government.
The inmates responsible for the hostage incident, including one who can only be identified as DM, were known to be dangerous and the risk they posed was known to the authorities, NSW District Court Judge Wendy Strathdee wrote in her decision on Friday (20 December).
In April 2017, 29-year-old Zeeshan Akbar was murdered by a then-16-year-old, the person known as DM, at the service station he worked at in Queanbeyan.
DM pleaded guilty to charges that included murder and was re-sentenced to 27 years in jail on appeal in 2022.
Meanwhile, in December 2020, the then-20-year-old had been held at the Mid North Coast Correctional Centre along with another inmate, 23-year-old NB, who also isn’t named for legal reasons.
Judge Strathdee said the pair ambushed two correctional officers by rushing them into a staff workstation. While one officer escaped, the other was held hostage for more than six hours and suffered numerous assaults.
“The torture that [the guard] went through was depraved and vicious,” Judge Strathdee said.
A previous court decision says DM repeatedly punched the officer in the face, kicked him, spat on him, shattered a lightbulb over his head and poured an undiluted chemical disinfectant over him.
He also sprayed the officer with insect repellent, threatened to set him alight, put a box over his head, and tied him to a chair.
About six hours after the incident began, DM surrendered a weapon he had and allowed the officer to leave.
Judge Strathdee said the guard “suffered multiple very serious injuries”, had to be taken to the burns unit in Sydney, and later resigned from his job with Corrective Services NSW.
The other guard also sustained serious injuries before he escaped and was hospitalised. Eventually, he was medically retired.
The two inmates pleaded guilty to the attack and were sentenced last year.
DM is now serving a sentence of more than 33 years’ jail, ending in November 2050, for all of his crimes.
His non-parole period of 29-and-a-half years means he can be released in May 2046.
Zeeshan Akbar was murdered at a Queanbeyan petrol station in April 2017. Photo: Facebook.
In the meantime, SafeWork NSW began proceedings against the government for its failures in the hostage incident.
The NSW Department of Communities and Justice and Corrective Services NSW went on to plead guilty to an offence under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011.
By the plea, the departments admitted they failed to ensure the safety of their workers, which exposed them to the risk of serious injury or death.
Judge Strathdee said DM had been in custody since 2017 and had been placed on several inmate behavioural plans as a result of his violent behaviour towards custodial officers and other inmates.
“The gravity of the risk was significant given the known criminal and custodial histories of inmates, and their well-understood tendency to arm themselves with jail-made weapons,” she said.
“There were straightforward steps available which could have been taken to minimise the risk.
“Both inmates had been previously identified as dangerous and the risk that they created was known.”
However, she accepted the departments had detailed and significant measures in place to address the many and varied risks, and she noted that Corrective Services had also implemented several new measures since the incident.
The departments were convicted and fined $600,000, half of which is to be paid to SafeWork NSW. They were also ordered to pay SafeWork’s legal costs.
A Corrective Services NSW spokeswoman said her department acknowledged the court’s decision and regretted the hostage incident.
“We commend the strength and bravery of the officers involved,” she said.
“The oversights that led to the contravention of the Work Health and Safety Act were immediately addressed following the incident.”
Original Article published by Albert McKnight on Riotact.
Loading ...
