Child sex predator Hamzeh Bahrami should get no sentencing discount for being assaulted while in prison, court hears
A sex offender who lured a 10-year-old girl into a public toilet block in a horrifying attack should not receive a lighter sentence just because he’s been bashed in prison, a court has heard.
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- Bikie launches fierce attack on Hamzeh Bahrami in prison
- How the man initially arrested over the attack was cleared
A predator who lured a young girl to a toilet block before committing an “abhorrent” sexual assault against her should get no sentencing discount because he is being targeted by other prisoners, a court has heard.
Hamzeh Bahrami, 34, pleaded guilty to four counts of indecent assault and false imprisonment of the 10-year-old in a public toilet block in Blair Athol in April 2019.
Bahrami’s brother was initially arrested over the assault but was later released when DNA results cleared him of the offending.
Detectives arrested Bahrami on April 18, 2019, and he has been in custody since then.
During sentencing submissions before the District Court on Friday, Nick Vadasz, for Bahrami, said his client had been the target of “hostility and violence” from fellow prisoners.
He has been moved from Yatala Labour Prison to Mount Gambier Prison, where the majority of the state’s imprisoned sex offenders are housed, because of the violence.
In a video posted online, Rebels bikie Bradley Daniele viciously assaulted Bahrami as he took a shower in the Adelaide Remand Centre a day after he had been arrested.
Daniele landed numerous punches on the man before Corrections Officers pepper sprayed them both.
Daniele had two months added to his non-parole period for the assault.
While Mr Vadasz said his client had accepted that any term of imprisonment was going to be marked with episodes of violence, Prosecutor Melissa Wilkinson said Bahrami did not deserve a sentencing discount for being at risk while incarcerated.
Citing the South Australian Supreme Court, Ms Wilkinson said giving Bahrami a discount for being assaulted while in prison was tantamount to revenge replacing punishment.
She also argued that Judge Paul Slattery should exercise his discretion not to give Bahrami his full discount for pleading guilty early.
Ms Wilkinson argued that a substantial reduction in Bahrami’s sentence could affect public confidence in the judicial system.
Bahrami was at the park with his four-year-old daughter and infant cousin when he lured the victim to the toilet block.
Mr Vadasz said the crime was spur of the moment and had not been planned.
But Ms Wilkinson said police had discovered video footage of Bahrami driving back and forth past the park earlier that day.
Bahrami asked the young girl, who had ridden her bike to the park by herself, to show him where the toilet block was.
Once there he pushed her inside a stall and sexually assaulted her while his daughter and cousin stood outside the cubicle.
Security camera footage seized by police showed the victim emerging from the toilet block eight minutes after she entered before running to her bike and riding away.
When the victim got home she told her mother what happened and the police were called.
Bahrami will be sentenced next month.