Chaotic scenes inside Holtze Prison riot laid bare as first inmate released after time served
THE chaotic scenes inside Holtze Prison that caused millions in damage earlier this year have been laid bare in court as the first inmate involved in the riot was released from jail
Northern Territory
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THE chaotic scenes inside Holtze Prison that caused more than $20 million in damage in May have been laid bare in court as the first inmate involved in the riot was released from jail.
Sebastian Wikaira-Fox, 21, pleaded guilty in the Darwin Local Court on Wednesday to escaping lawful confinement after prosecutors withdrew another charge of damaging property in a riot.
Prosecutor Rebecca Everitt told the court the disturbance began when inmate Jason Reid became “frustrated” at not being moved to a different cell and smashed the glass window to the front door of a building in sector six before climbing onto the roof.
A short time later, fellow jailbird Kieran Webster adapted a metal table leg into a weapon before Shane Noble kicked open a common area door and walked out with a number of other prisoners in tow, Ms Everitt said.
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Eight of the men climbed the fence of an adjoining sector and ran towards the women’s section where they climbed that fence as well, while others smashed their accommodation block windows and also escaped.
Nine inmates entered an officers’ guard complex by smashing windows and kicking in doors where they used an accelerant to light a fire which spread quickly throughout the building.
Several buildings had to be completely gutted after the ensuing fires and Ms Everitt said the total damage bill was estimated to be in excess of $20 million.
Several of the prisoners then climbed onto the roof of one of the buildings and threw objects, including fire extinguishers and a “marijuana pipe”, at guards who had to protect themselves with riot shields.
Ms Everitt said Webster shouted “let’s break out of here, we’ve started, we’ve made it this far”, before the men were subdued by tear gas and agreed to climb down.
She said convicted murderer Matej Vanko then told guards “This time we’ve burnt a couple of buildings down but next time (when) this happens again the officers are collateral damage”.
Defence lawyer Nicola McCarron said Wikaira-Fox — a convicted drug dealer — was three days short of being eligible for parole when he climbed out his cell window “to see what was going on”.
“The smoke had reached sector seven and he was curious to know what was happening,” she said.
“People were getting excited and worked up and there was lots of noise (so) he made the decision to exit through the already broken window.”
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Ms Everitt said Wikaira-Fox was among the prisoners seen standing on the roof during the riot but “falls into a very small class of the defendants involved” and was only “lending moral support” to the others.
Judge Michael Carey said he didn’t think “people like Vanko and the others needed a great deal of encouragement” but allowed Wikaira-Fox to walk free after six weeks time served.
“I suspect you’ve cost yourself about six-and-a-half months extra time because you probably would have been paroled three days after this event if you’d stayed in your cell where you were,” he said.
Originally published as Chaotic scenes inside Holtze Prison riot laid bare as first inmate released after time served