Murderer Azam Charbaji, inmates Tamien Azizy, Abdul Dandan, Danny Zayat sentenced over bashing

An inmate was left wounded and concussed after a violent prison bashing meted out by a convicted murderer, a man who stabbed someone to fulfil a drug debt, and another prisoner on remand.

Clarence Correctional Centre at Grafton where murderer Azam Charbaji is serving a term of imprisonment for murder.

An inmate was unconscious for five minutes, wounded to the head and concussed after a violent prison bashing meted out by a convicted murderer and three other inmates.

A court has heard that in November 2023 Azam Charbaji, 34, Tamien Azizy, 35, Abdul Dandan, 25 and Danny Zayat, 30, viciously attacked Ryan Corby, who had entered the Clarence Correctional Centre the day before.

In evidence before the court, Charbaji claimed Corby made verbal threats towards him in the recreational area before the violent attack which occurred inside.

“He said he was going to kill me, kill my family,” Charbaji said.

In an affidavit before the court, Charbaji claimed Corby had said he knew Charbaji’s wife and called her a snitch, and a dog and she was the reason Corby was in jail.

A 45 second fight that occurred in Neighbourhood Three of Clarence Correctional Centre, has resulted in four men being sentenced. Image: Corrective Services, Serco.

The court heard Charbaji realised Corby could have been a person who had broken into his family home and committed certain offences.

There is no suggestion either Charbaji’s wife or Corby are accused of any wrongdoing of the kind described, only that these claims were made before a court.

Azam Charbaji.

Abdul Dandan.

Charbaji is currently serving a maximum 32-year sentence for murdering drug dealer Dane McNeill in an ugly and brutal attack where the 20-year-old was bashed, stabbed, restrained and force-fed a lethal dose of Xanax.

Dandan was jailed in 2022 for a maximum of four years and 10 months over the stabbing of a Sydney man, which he said he carried out at someone else’s direction to satisfy a $30,000 drug debt.

Zayat is on remand charged with an unrelated offence, to which he is yet to enter formal pleas but is set down for trial in the NSW Supreme Court.

CCTV footage played to the court showed the men, along with Azizy, leave the basketball area where the verbal abuse occurred in what is known as Neighborhood Three.

Danny Zayat.

They then enter the cell building and head towards Charbaji’s cell, located under a staircase, where the 45 second violent assault on Corby occurred.

Corby was restrained by Azizy and punched and kicked by the others multiple times until he broke free.

But the assault continued and reached its peak when Charbaji “stomped on” Corby’s head three times before Azizy pulled him away

Charbaji was convicted of wounding a person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and sentenced to four years, one month and 15 days with a non-parole period of two and a half years, making him eligible for parole on June 6, 2040.

He is eligible for parole for Mr McNeill’s murder in January 2039, with his conviction over the bashing resulting in his time behind bars being extended by some 18 months.

The 2023 assault occurred in a cell underneath a staircase but in view of CCTV cameras at Clarence Correctional Centre. Image: Corrective Services, Serco.

Dandan and Zayat were both sentenced to two years, seven months and 15 days with a non-parole period of one year and eight months for reckless wounding in company.

Dandan will be eligible for parole on December 21, 2025 and Zayat on July 18, 2025.

Azizy, who was also charged with reckless wounding in company, received a lesser sentence for his role in the attack.

He was sentenced to two years and three months’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of one and a half years, making him eligible for release on April 27, 2026.

All four men pleaded guilty to their charges, affording them a 25 per cent discount on sentencing.

Judge Michael McHugh sentenced Charbaji on Thursday, and Zayat and Azizy on Friday, at Coffs Harbour District Court, while Dandan was sentenced in Grafton in March.