news, crime

A serial criminal has been found guilty of breaking a guard's neck in a prison attack. An ACT Supreme Court jury took about one day to find the 27 year old, who cannot be named, guilty of a threat to kill, unlawfully causing grievous bodily harm, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The jury, however, found the man not guilty of intentionally strangling another prisoner. It can now be revealed that the man is a serial criminal who killed university student Clea Rose while driving a stolen car as a teenager in 2005. The man, currently serving time for a string of burglaries and car theft, now faces another lengthy jail sentence. In 2005, he was aged 15 when he struck and killed Ms Rose while driving in a stolen car during a police pursuit. He went on trial last week - having pleaded not guilty - over an incident at the Alexander Maconochie Centre in January last year. The court heard an alert had been raised from one of the jail's remand cells on the morning of January 15. Prison staff responded, but the defendant told them the intercom had been knocked by accident. However, his cellmate made a whispered a plea to "get me out of here". The officers ordered the defendant to put his hands through the hatch so he could be restrained with handcuffs. Only one cuff could be attached to his wrist before he became involved in an altercation with another prisoner. The defendant then attacked guards when they tried to intervene, punching one before pulling him down towards the back of the cell. The guard struck a wooden bench as he fell. The impact caused devastating injuries, shattering the guards nasal bone, and fracturing the base of his skull and a neck vertebrae. The injuries required immediate corrective surgery and the guard spent eight days in hospital. The court heard the victim suffered long-term damage, including nerve damage causing numbness and a lack of sensation around his face. He has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and has not returned to work. Chief Justice Helen Murrell ordered a pre-sentence report and drug and alcohol assessment ahead of the man's sentence in October.

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