Ita Buttrose’s nephew Richard wins payout after being stripped while in prison

Richard Buttrose, former drug dealer and nephew of ABC boss Ita Buttrose, has won a secret payout from Corrective Services NSW - the details of which can now be revealed.

Richard Buttrose, former drug dealer and nephew of ABC boss Ita Buttrose, has won a secret payout from Corrective Services NSW after he claimed to have been stripped naked, assaulted by prison officers and moved from jail to jail because he refused to pay a prison boss $10,000 to allow him early day release.

The 49-year-old former restaurateur spent nine years in jail after being convicted of supplying cocaine to the high flying social set of the Eastern Suburbs including celebrities, sports stars and politicians.

Buttrose who was released from jail in 2017 completed a masters in accounting while incarcerated and is currently studying for a law degree, to help those who can’t afford to be represented in court.

He launched the legal action in the Supreme court in 2020 against the department after it was reported he rejected an offer to settle for $10,000 damages in 2019.

Neither Buttrose, nor Corrective Services would comment yesterday on the amount of the settlement agreed to last month because both parties agreed to a non disclosure clause.

Richard Buttrose pictured in Double Bay. Picture: Toby Zerna

Corrective services have never conceded the claims about the bribes and the ­assaults were true.

In his statement of claim lodged in the Supreme Court, Buttrose said officials had recorded a phone conversation he had with his good friend, PR queen Roxy Jacenko, in which he gave her advice to pass onto her husband, Oliver Curtis, who was about to spend his first day in jail for insider trading, urging him to stay in general jail population.

In his statement of claim lodged in the Supreme Court, Buttrose said officials used a taped phone conversation where he was giving advice to his good friend Roxy Jacenko to pass on to her husband, Oliver Curtis. Picture: Instagram

Buttrose claimed prison officials used that conversation to allege he was attempting to “manipulate an officer in charge of placement of another inmate during a phone call’’.

The former star of SAS Australia said the call was purely to support his friend and provide helpful advice.

Buttrose’s secret payout follows another, unrelated, legal victory, when he used his new-found legal skills to represent himself on a driving charge in the Downing Centre local court this week.

He was charged with breaking the speed limit at Surry Hills in 2020, when he was clocked doing 48km/h in a 40km/h speedzone.

Armed with photos he took at the time, Buttrose convinced a magistrate that trees had been blocking the speed limit sign, and the fine was dismissed.