Man jailed for assaulting inmate over racial slurs

While an inmate at Clarence Correctional Centre, a Casino man assaulted a fellow inmate in retaliation to vulgar racist abuse

A Casino man has been jailed over assaulting another inmate at Clarence Correctional Centre.

A CASINO man has plead guilty and been convicted of assaulting a fellow inmate at Clarence Correctional Centre earlier this year.

William George Gordon appeared in Grafton Local Court this week where he was sentenced for assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

According to court documents on September 16 this year both Gordon, 22, and the victim were inmates within the segregation unit of the Clarence Correctional Centre.

Gordon was working as a caretaker while the victim was locked inside his cell, and he called out to Gordon and accused him of getting "special privileges" within the jail because he was indigenous.

The agreed facts state that Gordon told the victim "don't let me catch you out of that cell", and the victim replied by calling Gordon a series of racial slurs.

The court heard Gordon became upset and threw a chair, and a correctives officer spoke to Gordon and told him to not "give any thought" to the abuse.

Gordon calmed down and returned to his duties when another correctives officer, who was not aware of the previous exchange, opened the cell and allowed the victim to exit his cell and wait in the hallway to be taken to the exercise yard.

Court documents state that Gordon saw victim outside of his cell, lunged forward and punched the victim in the face. The victim fell to the ground, and Gordon punched him again in the head.

The following day police attended the jail and got a statement from the victim, who said that while he was belligerent towards Gordon he wanted police to take action regardless.

In court on Tuesday magistrate Kathy Crittenden sentenced Gordon to a two month prison sentence, backdated to the time of the offence.

Originally published as