DISGRACED property developer Salim Mehajer has been denied bail pending an appeal over his jail sentence for electoral fraud.

The former Auburn deputy mayor today appeared in Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court from Silverwater Prison via video link in a bid to be released as he awaits an appeal hearing over the severity of his sentence.

Mehajer, 32, was last month sentenced to 21 months behind bars, with a non parole period of 11 months, for rigging a council election after he was convicted in April of more than 100 counts of electoral fraud. Mehajer today appeared on screen, wearing a green prison jumper, and looking downtrodden as he learned he would not be leaving prison prior to his appeal on September 3.

Judge Helen Syme told the court that the last sentencing Magistrate’s reasons for her decision were “succinct and very detailed” and formed part of her decision to dismiss Mehajer’s bail application.

“I … observe those reasons are comprehensive, they’re detailed and they set out the Magistrate’s understanding of the facts and her reasoning for … the sentence in an efficient manner,” she said.

The court today heard Mehajer was “in restrictive custodial conditions” in maximum security at Silverwater Prison. It was previously reported that Mehajer was placed in segregation after authorities received “intelligence” about a $250,000 bounty put out on his life over alleged underworld debts.

A Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) spokeswoman would not confirm or deny the claims, citing privacy reasons. The prison is the largest in the state and has held most of the country’s worst killers, rapists, crooked politicians, bikie gang kingpins, and paedophiles, at one stage or another. A CSNSW spokeswoman told news.com.au that lock-in at Silverwater’s Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre (MRRC) — a maximum-security facility for male inmates where Mehajer is being held — is about 2pm. But threats and random explosions of expletives from the inmates reportedly continue for several hours, broken up by a call for help.

“All offenders coming into the MRRC must go through the Darcy pod for assessment and placement, so it houses a mix of mainstream, new reception, segregation, mental health and protection inmates,” the CSNSW spokeswoman told news.com.au.

“All cells at MRRC have the appropriate facilities for inmates.”

Mehajer’s barrister Ben Clarke told the court Thursday that it was difficult for his client to seek urgent psychiatric treatment because of access problems in the maximum security facility where he is being held.

He also argued that Mehajer wouldn’t be a flight risk on bail because his passports had already been surrendered to the Australian Federal Police.

Judge Syme conceded Mehajer would not be able to “access psychological treatments like talking therapy” in custody but the treatment for bipolar disorder, she said, was a long-term proposition.

She said it was not necessary for her to consider bail conditions any further because she “wasn’t convinced it should be granted”.

Mehajer will subsequently remain in protective custody at the MRRC for the foreseeable future. Inside the protective cells of the prison’s Darcy Block, are metal bunks, a shower, and a toilet with a bare porcelain rim for a seat.

Dr John Rynne, senior lecturer at Griffith University’s School of Criminology and Social Justice, previously told news.com.au that “prisoners call [protection] the bone yard”.

“[It’s] because that’s where dogs are, and the worst thing you can be known as in prison is a dog,” he said.

There is no privilege yet for such mod-cons as television, or radio. That has to be earned.

Everything is audible; every conversation, every threat, bouncing off the concrete walls and through the open-air window slots that turn the cells stifling in the heat, The Daily Telegraph reported.

READ: Prison guard warns: ‘Sleep with one eye open’

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In sentencing, Magistrate Beverley Schurr last month found that despite Mehajer’s lawyer’s 11th hour submission that he was recently diagnosed with bipolar disorder, there was no evidence he had been suffering from mental illness at the time he committed the fraud.

WHAT LANDED MEHAJER IN JAIL

Mehajer was previously found guilty of acting in a “joint criminal enterprise” with his sister Fatima to fix the 2012 Auburn City Council elections by submitting false online applications to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). They forms listed families who resided outside Auburn as living within the local government area so they could vote.

It was that election which led to him becoming the deputy mayor. In handing down the sentence on June 22, Magistrate Beverley Schurr imposed a 21 month jail term with a non parole period of 11 months, on Mehajer, to “reflect the serious criminality”.

“Only a full custodial sentence is appropriate in this case,” Ms Schurr said.

Mehajer will be eligible for parole on May 21, 2019. His legal team has vowed to appeal the sentence and will be heard in court on September 3.

Mehajer was earlier found guilty of forging documents and giving false or misleading information to the AEC after the court heard he fabricated a number of addresses­ for friends and family, claiming they resided in Auburn making them eligible to vote.

The alarm bell was raised when the AEC received an unusual number of online applications shortly before the close of the electoral roll.

The magistrate found voters named in some of the forged forms later said they were not responsible for completing or signing them.

“Mr Mehajer and eight other members of his family were registered to vote at false addresses,” Ms Schurr said during sentencing.

Mehajer’s barrister Dymphna Hawkins asked the magistrate to consider “extra-curial” punishment her client had allegedly received from intense negative publicity surrounding his case.

But prosecutor Liam Cavell argued that Mehajer had drawn the attention to himself with his 2015 wedding and a subsequent interview in which he revealed his ambition to become prime minister.

Ms Schurr ultimately dismissed Mehajer’s letter to the court that the sentence should also take into account he had been a target of relentless negative media coverage.

But Ms Schurr said she hoped he would seek mental health care in jail to manage his bipolar disorder and move towards rehabilitating his life.

Moments later, his model partner Melissa Tysoe — who he had discussed marriage with — deleted all references to Mehajer on her Instagram page and unfollowed his account.

Fatima 28, previously pleaded guilty to 77 offences related to giving the AEC false information for the 2012 Auburn council elections. She avoided jail time because she was “under the direction of her brother [Salim]” when she took part in a joint criminal enterprise to rig a council election, the court heard.

Ms Schurr imposed a two month suspended jail term with a $500 nine-month good behaviour bond on the mother-of-three.

At last count, Salim Mehajer was currently embroiled in some 20 criminal and civil matters, including several assault cases and a spectacular bankruptcy action in which is creditors claim he owes $97 million.

Mehajer shot to prominence in August 2015 when his opulent wedding, which included a jet flyover, four helicopters and $50 million worth of supercars and involved an unauthorised road closure, drew national media attention.

That relationship has since dissolved.

megan.palin@news.com.au | @Megan_Palin