Townsville murderer’s prison riot case delayed by High Court decision

A convicted murderer can’t be sentenced for his role in a Queensland prison riot until the High Court of Australia hands down a decision in another matter.

Brent Malcolm Huxley, who has one charge of riot which is before the Rockhampton District Court, was sentenced in 2019 to life imprisonment for murdering north Queensland man Michael McCabe in August 2015.

A convicted murderer can not be sentenced for his role in a Queensland prison riot until the High Court of Australia hands down a decision in another matter.

Brent Malcolm Huxley, who has one charge of riot before the Rockhampton District Court, was sentenced in 2019 to life imprisonment for murdering north Queensland man Michael McCabe in August 2015.

Mr McCabe, 25, was assaulted by a group at a Townsville unit before being loaded into the boot of a car and driven to the Crystal Creek region, about 80km north.

His partial skeleton and mummified body was found in remote bushland on September 17, 2015.

An autopsy revealed Mr McCabe had multiple fractures to his face, consistent with having a large rock dropped on his head.

In September 2019, a jury at Supreme Court in Townsville found Huxley had murdered Mr McCabe in this manner.

Another man, Jason Douglas Taylor, was also jailed for life for Mr McCabe’s murder.

Huxley was unsuccessful in his appeal of the murder conviction in Queensland’s Court of Appeal in 2021.

Defence lawyer Jess King told Rockhampton District Court on November 13 her client was waiting for the High Court of Australia to hand down its decision after a hearing in September 2023.

She said the sentence for the riot, which took place at Capricornia Correctional Centre at Etna Creek in October 2021, would be impacted by the outcome of the High Court decision.

Huxley’s prison riot charge was adjourned to December 11 for mention.