Joshua Majdalani: Wellington jail guard fights drug supply charges

An inmate claimed he arranged for the bank account of a jail guard fighting corruption and drug supply charges to be hacked, a court has heard.

Corrections officers from Wellington jail have fronted court to give evidence at a hearing into allegations one of their colleagues supplied steroids to inmates and was corrupt.

Police allege Joshua Travers Majdalani, 29, supplied 8.59 grams of stanozolol and 3.37 grams of oxymetholone to inmates at the jail in 2019.

Joshua Majdalani has been suspended from his duties while his case is dealt with in court. Picture: Corrective Services NSW

The Dubbo resident has pleaded not guilty to three supply prohibited drug charges and one count of being an agent who corruptly received $4200 from inmates or associates of inmates.

A hearing into Mr Majdalani’s case began in Dubbo Local Court on Monday.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Edward Knight told the court charges were laid against Mr Majdalani after 38 steroid tablets were found in cell number 86 in pod C at Wellington jail on October 25, 2019.

Defence barrister Matthew McAuliffe said while it was agreed the drugs were found in the cell, Mr Majdalani did not supply them to the inmates.

“It’s a circumstantial case, there’s no direct evidence of supply,” Mr McAuliffe told the court.

The court heard corrections officer Kieran Sharp supervised the search of cell 86.

Joshua Majdalani remains out on bail. Picture: Facebook/Joshua Majdalani

In the witness box Mr Sharp recalled a conversation he had with a woman who raised concerns after visiting an inmate at the jail.

“She claimed she was being extorted or forced to bring things into the centre by other offenders,” Mr Sharp said.

“She was fearful that there were going to be repercussions for her partner who was housed at the centre at the time.”

During cross examination, Mr McAuliffe asked Mr Sharp about a conversation he had with the inmate who the woman had visited.

“He told you that he arranged for a friend to hack into Mr Majdalani’s bank account ... he gave you information about his fortnightly earnings ... he even told you he knew of Mr Majdalani making purchases of Adidas clothing,” Mr McAuliffee said.

Mr Sharp agreed the inmate made the claims to him and that was also told by the inmate that a female officer was bringing contraband into the jail.

An inmate claims to have arranged to have Joshua Majdalani’s (pictured) phone hacked. Picture: Facebook/Joshua Majdalani

Mr McAuliffe presented Mr Sharp with the record of inmates who shared cell 86, including one who was a member of an outlaw motorcycle gang and was moved out of the cell a day before the steroids were found.

Mr Sharp agreed the record showed the inmate moved out of the cell had a history of committing offences while in custody, including making an item to consume prohibited substances.

When corrections officer Barclay Williams was called to give evidence he told of how Mr Majdalani expressed an interest in the search of the inmate who was the last remaining occupant of cell 86 before the steroids were found.

Mr Williams told the court after Mr Majdalani found out who the inmate was, he questioned staff about what was found in cell 86.

“His demeanour did drastically change,” Mr Williams said as he recalled Mr Majdalani appeared happy and jovial before finding out about the cell 86 find.

“In our role it’s very confidential … officers don’t really ask us and approach us to ask questions about what we’re doing,” he said.

The hearing continues.