Zachary Froome: man sentenced over hospital rampage

A young man who once described himself as a ‘pure white blood’ was so violent during an attack on staff and property at Canberra Hospital he had to be sedated with Ketamine.

A man who has spent over half his adult life in jail has been sentenced over a hospital rampage.

Zachary John Froome, 24, appeared at the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday charged with destroying or damaging property not exceeding $5000 and driving while suspended.

He had pleaded guilty to both charges.

Court documents reveal Froome was admitted to Canberra Hospital in November 2020 after suffering a drug overdose.

While being discharged, he went on a violent rampage, taking a hammer to a window and a brick wall of a flower bed, and verbally abused staff.

The court heard Froome was so irate he had to be sedated with Ketamine.

The incident resulted in $1394 of damage to hospital property.

White supremacist Zachary Froome has been sentenced over a hospital rampage.

Froome was serving a suspended sentence at the time of the hospital attack for a 2019 conviction of using a carriage service to harass or menace.

In 2019, he was found guilty of sending a slew of anti-Semitic messages to a Jewish 16-year-old girl where he described himself as “pure white blood” and taunted her about the Holocaust.

Froome was also found driving while suspended about 4am on January 9 last year.

He was stopped by police and given a caution however he was caught driving just 20 minutes later and got into a physical altercation with his passenger.

Special Magistrate Margaret Hunter sentenced Froome to a 12-month good behaviour bond in December 2019.

However, the court heard on Thursday Froome served 11 months of the order without offending before the hospital attack.

Froome’s defence lawyer, Jan de Bruin from ACT Legal Aid, told the court his client had substance abuse problems and expressed a willingness to engage with rehabilitation.

The prosecutor described Froome as a person who was at high risk of offending who had disregarded previous court orders.

She told the court Froome has spent over three years in custody since he turned 18, meaning he had spent over half of his adult life behind bars.

Magistrate Stewart sentenced the defendant to 42 days of imprisonment, was ordered to pay an immediate fine of $450 and had his driving suspension extended by a month.