Prisoners Agim Kruezi and Kane Alan Smith brawled over non-halal meals

Two of Queensland’s most hardened criminals – a convicted terrorist and a man who stabbed an old woman in the eye with a butter knife – have pleaded guilty to involvement in a prison brawl that began over a non-halal meal.

TWO of Queensland’s most hardened criminals – a convicted terrorist and a man who stabbed an elderly woman in the eye with a butter knife during a violent robbery – have pleaded guilty to involvement in a prison brawl that began over a non-halal meal.

Terror plotter Agim Kruezi being sentenced in Brisbane court

Court drawing of Agim Kruezi during his sentencing.

Agim Kruezi, 26, the Logan terrorist who stockpiled weapons and planned a public attack on police officers who cancelled his passport, halting travel to Syria to fight with rebels, was last year sentenced to 17 years’ jail by the Brisbane Supreme Court for terror charges.

It has today been revealed in a separate sentencing hearing in the Brisbane District Court that, while on remand for the terror offences, Kruezi was part of an incident at Arthur Gorrie Prison when another inmate caused a ruckus after allegedly being given a non-halal meal.

Kruezi has pleaded guilty to unlawful assembly in March 2017 after refusing to follow directions of corrections officers to move on and kicked a door after co-accused Kane Alan Smith, 24, was moved into a cell for throwing his dinner on the ground and becoming involved in a scuffle with guards.

The court heard there had allegedly been an ongoing issue at the correctional centre where prisoners were not being provided with halal meals, despite requesting them.

Smith is serving a seven-year jail sentence for stabbing a 71-year-old woman in the eye with a butter knife during a violent home invasion in southern Queensland in 2015, which caused the victim permanent blindness and severe mental trauma.

He pleaded guilty to serious assault of a prison guard during the 2017 brawl, after bruising the officer’s hand.

Kruezi’s terror offending involved purchasing a rifle and 10l of petrol in 2014 before attempting to buy glass bottles suitable to make molotov cocktails and carry out a “public attack”.

The pair will be sentenced later today in the Brisbane District Court.