Gregory ‘Bluey’ Brazel hits Barwon Prison with contempt challenge

A serial murderer could be about to have a court win over Barwon Prison, after accusing prison guards of snooping through his mail.

Notorious killer Greg Brazel Gregory ‘Bluey’ Brazel is challenging Barwon prison. Picture: Jessica Lee

A serial murderer and jailhouse lawyer could have his captors hauled to court for a rap across the knuckles — all because they opened his mail.

In a bizarre contempt case to hit the County Court, Gregory “Bluey” Brazel, who is serving three life sentences for killing women, has filed against Barwon Prison officers claiming they unlawfully interfered with his mail and destroyed his USB stick.

The 68-year-old, who killed a hardware store owner during an armed robbery in 1982 and two sex workers in the 90s, is representing himself in a “glacial” court case against the State of Victoria for injuries he allegedly sustained when sprayed with a “chemical agent” at the Melbourne Remand Centre.

Judges made court orders protecting his correspondence amid concerns of interference with his mail, which contained legal material he relied on to run his case.

Gregory Brazel aged 15 or 16 during his cadet training.

But prison authorities where he is now housed at Barwon admitted “on a number of occasions” to opening Brazel’s mail in breach of the judge’s directions, court documents show.

In a recent ruling, Judge Phillip Ginnane said prison staff “relied on the interference as inadvertent”.

That wouldn’t protect them from being done with contempt but “may be relevant to the nature and extent of any penalty” if they were guilty, His Honour said.

It is a civil contempt of court to disobey or refuse a judge’s order.

Judge Ginnane called on prison officers to make statements about the mail interference, and even flagged that he could order Barwon’s general manager to court to give a please explain.

His Honour voiced “frustration at the apparent failures by those in control of Barwon Prison” and said the errors were “unacceptable. Yet they persisted.”

Documents before the court show that the murderer’s cell was subject to a search in March, 2021, after which he claimed his USB was destroyed and he lost “99% of all legal documents”.

Brazel is serving three life sentences at Barwon Prison for killing women. Picture: Jason Edwards

Brazel claimed this, and an incident where his property went missing from the back of a prison van, were “deliberate acts to prevent (him) from being able to properly prepare and prosecute his case”.

The mail interference came to light in a recent ruling amid Brazel’s ongoing 2013 case for damages against the state, where he claims he suffered a “permanent injury to the skin” when sprayed with a chemical agent while housed in a secure area of Melbourne Remand Centre.

The convicted killer sought to disqualify Judge Ginnane from his case for bias because His Honour had made a “favourable comment” about the ethics of the lawyer appearing for the State of Victoria.

But Judge Ginnane last month (NOV) rejected the bid, ruling that he could bring an “impartial and unprejudiced mind to the hearing” despite his professional relationship with the lawyer.

Brazel’s case against the state is listed for a five day judge-alone trial in August, 2023.

His contempt case against the prison officers remains on foot.