Baden-Clay ‘smug’ before High Court ruling, prison sources say

ARROGANT wife-murderer Gerard Baden-Clay believed until the last minute that the High Court would rule in his favour, sources claim.

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ARROGANT wife-murderer Gerard Baden-Clay believed until the last minute that the High Court would rule in his favour, sources claim.

The Courier-Mail has been told Baden-Clay called his parents from prison straight after the High Court reinstated the murder conviction for killing his wife Allison.

“He wasn’t put on observation (for a bad reaction to the decision),” a source said.

“But I imagine he is upset.”

Baden-Clay called his parents following the High Court verdict.

Prison sources said Baden-Clay remained smug and “over confident” in the lead-up to yesterday’s decision.

After the decision Baden-Clay’s lawyer Peter Shields said: “He has accepted the decision, as he must, and he will obviously do the necessary time in prison before making application for parole.”

With his life subjected to a regimented daily prison schedule dictated by guards, the former high-flying real estate agent has little choice on how he spends his time inside.

It begins every day at Wolston jail in Brisbane’s south with a 7.15am headcount, ­according to a manual on the prison’s “structured day”.

After breakfast, taking part in gym activities, hobbies and work, he is served dinner at 4.10pm before being locked in his cell at 5.30pm.

Kept inside the small cell for about 14 hours a day, he lives with more than 300 sex ­offenders and high-profile murderers.

He is housed in a 50-cell unit, with rooms containing a single bed, desk, small shelf, noticeboard, toilet and shower. Baden-Clay is expected to be visited by his lawyer tomorrow and family members for ­Father’s Day on Sunday.

A typical cell at Wolston Correctional Centre, where Baden-Clay will stay until 2027.

He can earn about $60 a week with a job in jail and could buy items like snacks, magazines and toiletries at the canteen each week.

While in jail he has worked in the “snaps” section assembling metal parts for a contract company, and he has also worked as a trolley pusher, taking three daily meals to prison units from the kitchen.

The Courier-Mail previously revealed Baden-Clay had tried to relocate to the residential section of the jail.

It is known as the “cushy” section of the prison as inmates are given more freedom and live in six-bed units.

He made the application within months of being taken to Wolston.

“He is a bloke who thinks he is above everyone; he has a very high opinion of himself. He will fit in real well,” a source said upon his arrival.

Baden-Clay will be locked away until at least 2027.