Coen Keith Curtis’s courtroom meltdown over serious assault of prison guard charge

A Borallon prisoner and self-proclaimed “hard man” called a magistrate ‘mate’ and ‘majesty’ in the span of minutes as he begged him to deal with his assault charge immediately – no matter the cost.

Prison stock image at Borallon Correctional Centre. AAP Image/Jono Searle

A man charged with seriously assaulting a prison guard told a court he’d be “pumping them 24/7” if he felt mistreated, right after he insisted he didn’t need a “f--king lawyer”.

Coen Keith Curtis, 30, appeared in Ipswich Magistrates’ Court via video link on April 5, 2023, charged with one count of seriously assaulting a corrective services officer causing bodily harm on December 4, 2022 at Woodford.

Magistrate David Shepherd advised Mr Curtis he should seek legal representation for the “very serious matter”.

Mr Curtis said he wanted to plead guilty and that he didn’t need a “f – king lawyer”.

“Sorry for swearing, I didn’t mean to swear.”

He then explained “all it was was one jab in the f – king mouth mate”.

“I went pop pop and then I stopped and I ran away from him.”

He later claimed: “I’ll be pumping them 24/7 if they keep thinking they can just pump me.”

Mr Curtis asked for his matter to be dealt with immediately, saying “I’ll do 10 years, I don’t care … I’m a hard man”.

Mr Curtis told the court he had already been in custody for four years, and would have been released in June this year.

Police prosecutor Bridie O’Shea said Mr Curtis’s criminal history was “complicated” and required consideration, making his matter too lengthy to be dealt with immediately.

Mr Curtis spoke over her and insisted: “I don’t think so … It’s not up to her, she’s only a prosecutor!”

“Just press the charge, your majesty.”

Mr Shepherd adjourned the matter for a sentence on June 2, and explained he was “trying to ensure the proceedings are fair”.

“Do as you please mate I don’t care,” was Mr Curtis’s seemingly-disgruntled response.

Mr Curtis is required to appear in person on June 2, and will be remanded in custody at Borallon Correctional Centre in the meantime.