From Supermax inmate to bush lawyer: Bassam Hamzy’s courtroom performance
NSW’s most dangerous inmate was in the building. But of all the buzz Bassam Hamzy created in Goulburn Local Court, it was his footwear that really got people talking.
NSW
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COURT staff passed the message in whispers, prison guards pressed together, speaking in hushed tones — the state’s most dangerous inmate was in the building.
But of all the buzz Bassam Hamzy created at Goulburn Local Court, it was his footwear that really got people talking.
HAMZY’S DAY IN COURT PLAYING LAWYER
“He is not wearing any socks,” one staffer whispered to another in the bitterly cold country courthouse.
Looking older and heavier than his 20-year-old mugshot, Hamzy shuffled into the dock dressed in an oversized suit with a bundle of handwritten legal documents under his arm.
Here was one of the country’s most notorious prisoners — murderer, drug dealer and gang boss — running his own case.
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He still wore the beard he had grown out of religious piety during his nearly 20 years behind bars.
However, the lines etched on his face made him appear less fearsome than his reputation.
Hamzy, an extreme high-risk classified prisoner, seemed confident in his own legal ability. He used the respectful language reserved for members of the judiciary and made an ambitious
stay application.
“This prosecution is vindictive and vexatious your honour, which leads to oppression,” Hamzy argued.
You could tell he had been preparing for this day. His questions during cross-examination were scripted and sections of law earmarked.
But the four prison officers keeping an eye on him were suitably unimpressed.
Even when the magistrate ruled in his favour, Hamzy barely flinched.
He marched down the creaky wooden stairs to the cells below, where his truck back to Supermax waited.