Ex-prison guard now behind bars after chucking a few too many sickies

A former Darwin prison guard who chucked a few too many sickies has joined the men he once supervised behind bars.

A FORMER Darwin prison guard who chucked a few too many sickies has joined the men he once supervised behind bars after pleading guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Stuart Elvidge, 69, also pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to multiple counts of obtaining benefit by deception after admitting to rorting his sick leave entitlements between 2014 and 2017.

The court heard Elvidge had been employed as a guard at Holtze Prison since 2004 where he was entitled to five days paid sick leave per year without requiring a doctor’s certificate.

But starting in August 2014, he forged or doctored medical certificates to claim extra leave he wasn’t entitled to on five separate occasions before police were called in December 2017.

After receiving a letter notifying him of proposed disciplinary action against him as a result of the deceit, Justice Peter Barr said Elvidge went back to his doctor and told him his records were wrong and he had actually issued him with a certificate for longer than he had.

The doctor believed Elvidge and wrote him a letter on the clinic’s letterhead supporting his claim but later realised he had been duped after he was given an opportunity to examine the false document Elvidge had submitted to his bosses.

In sentencing, Justice Barr said the total value of Elvidge’s ill-gotten gains was $5257 and he had subsequently repaid the money in full in September last year.

“Although the amount may not be relatively significant, the level of dishonesty and manipulation was quite high,” he said. “Notwithstanding that you had reasonably generous conditions in relation to sick leave under the applicable enterprise bargaining agreement, you cheated the system.”

Justice Barr handed Elvidge a $2200 fine for the fraudulent sickies, which he said was in line with two other prison officers who had committed similar offending at about the same time.

But Justice Barr said while the more serious charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice was “in relation to a relatively minor matter”, it carried a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

“You did not engage in violent or threatening conduct, rather, you lied to the doctor, and in that way, you manipulated him and prevailed upon him to unknowingly make a false statement in a letter,” he said.

“Your purpose was to maintain a false narrative and shut down the investigation.”

In handing Elvidge a 16 month prison sentence, suspended after four months, Justice Barr said he took into account “your prior good record and also the fact that as a former prison officer, time in custody may be difficult for you”.

Originally published as Ex-prison guard now behind bars after chucking a few too many sickies