Joshua Majdalani: Wellington prison guard’s drugs hearing continues

Fingerprints and DNA from a jail guard charged with supplying drugs to inmates were not found on steroids located in a cell shared by Rebels bikies, a court heard.

The senior police officer in charge of an investigation into a jail guard’s alleged supply of drugs to inmates at Wellington Correctional Centre has told a court taps of the guard’s phone revealed no direct references to the supply of steroids found in a cell shared by Rebels bikies.

Joshua Travers Majdalani, 29, is fighting three supply prohibited drugs charges and one charge of being an agent who corruptly received $4200 from inmates or associates of inmates.

Wellington jail corrections officer Joshua Majdalani has been accused of supplying drugs to inmates at the facility. Picture: Corrective Services NSW

The Dubbo resident has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which were laid after 8.59 grams of stanozolol and 3.37 grams of oxymetholone were discovered in cell 86 of pod C at Wellington jail on October 25, 2019.

Tobacco and a black Nokia phone were also found in the cell which was shared by two members of the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang.

On the second day of a hearing into the allegations police have made against Mr Majdalani, time constraints and discussions about the admissibility of evidence police wanted to present meant senior constable Scott Hansen was the only witness called to give evidence.

He was the police officer in charge of the investigation into Mr Majdalani and faced a grilling in the witness box about his handling of the investigation.

After corrections officer Kieran Sharp appeared in court on day one of the hearing and revealed an inmate had claimed to have arranged for someone to hack into Mr Majdalani’s bank account, defence barrister Matthew McAuliffe asked senior constable Hansen why police did not pursue the claim.

Senior constable Hansen responded: “I didn’t think, based on the evidence I had, that it was likely to have occurred”.

Pressed further on claims the inmate made to corrections officer Sharp about a female corrections officer bringing contraband into the jail, senior constable Hansen said he did not investigate the claim because a separate operation was conducted by police which involved a female corrections officer at Wellington.

Joshua Majdalani denies allegations he supplied drugs to inmates at Wellington jail. Picture: Facebook/Joshua Majdalani

After police tendered excerpts of messages and calls obtained from Mr Majdalani’s phone, which was tapped from October 2019 to May 2020, Mr McAuliffe said while the excerpts contained reference to Mr Majdalani’s supply of cocaine to members of the general public — which he has pleaded guilty to — the excerpts did not concern the supply of stanozolol or oxymetholone.

Senior constable Hansen agreed and he also confirmed Mr Majdalani had voluntarily given a sample of his DNA to police in May 2020, along with fingerprints.

“No they weren’t,” senior Constable Hansen responded when asked if Mr Majdalani’s fingerprints were found on the items found in cell 86.

The court heard police did not conduct a DNA analysis on the mobile phone found in cell 86 or tobacco found in the cell which senior constable Hansen said he had not received from Corrective Services.

Joshua Majdalani’s case returns to court in September. Picture: Facebook/Joshua Majdalani

Senior constable Hansen said no analysis was done on the packaging the stanozolol and oxymetholone was found in.

“That packaging was consistent with Justice Health packaging,” he told the court.

Senior constable Hansen said during his investigation he was told one of the bikies who shared cell 86 might have introduced a mobile phone into Wellington Correctional Centre.

When Mr McAuliffe asked if senior constable Hansen had reviewed CCTV footage of the inmate in question’s transfer to Wellington from Parklea jail on September 19, 2019, senior constable Hansen said he had not.

The court heard raids of Mr Majdalani and his mother’s homes led to no stanozolol or oxymetholone being found.

The hearing has been adjourned to a date in September.