Violent Sydney criminal with ISIS arm tattoo abandons parole bid

A violent Sydney offender with a terrorist arm tattoo has stormed out of his own parole bid hearing and will remain locked up until May.

A violent criminal with an Islamic State tattoo has abandoned his parole bid midway through his hearing and will now remain behind bars until his head sentence expires in two months.

Issam Alam last week won his fight to go unchecked upon his release from prison, despite a judge labelling him a “dangerous menace” who’s likely to reoffend.

On Tuesday Alam was contesting an order to have him remain in jail until the end of his sentence on May 26 when he abruptly left the hearing, surprising even his own lawyer.

“The 32-year-old offender withdrew his application midway through a public review hearing held today,” a State Parole Authority spokesperson said.

Mid North Coast Correctional Centre near Kempsey where Alam is jailed.

“He told the SPA panel and his legal representative that he wished to withdraw from the proceedings. He then removed himself from the (audio visual link) room.”

It’s understood Alam, who has been in custody for most of the last decade, became fed up during legal argument over his post-release accommodation and whether he was likely to commit more crimes.

Last Thursday the state government failed to get Alam put on a three-year supervision order under the Terrorism High Risk Offenders Act once released from jail, but Attorney-General Mark Speakman is considering an appeal.

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Justice Helen Wilson said Alam, who has a long criminal history, still posed a risk to the community while his ability to acquire firearms was “deeply troubling.”

But she dismissed the state’s application because it couldn’t be proven that he was likely to commit a terrorism offence.

Alam was handed a maximum two-year jail term for driving recklessly during a police chase, a string of other driving offences and assaulting a prison officer.

The state argued Alam needed monitoring due to his violent extremist ideologies, pointing to the word “Daesh” tattooed on his right forearm in Arabic script and a 2018 photo of him with a raised index finger – a gesture which has been co-opted by violent jihadists.

Alam denied being radicalised, telling a psychologist he got the tattoo after “a dare from a friend” and had since altered the D to an R so it no longer had the same meaning.

He is also a known friend of terrorist Talal Alameddine, who is serving a 14-year sentence for providing the gun used to kill NSW Police employee Curtis Cheng.

While locked up, the western Sydney man threw milk cartons full of human waste on custodial officers and was accused of threatening to rape and behead a female corrections staff member after he was one of several inmates who discovered her address.

– With AAP