Inquest to determine what happened inside Hizir Ferman’s prison cell as guards stormed in
A VICTORIAN gangland figure refused to pull a doona off his head before launching a brutal assault on prison guards. Hours later he was dead.
HIZIR Ferman had been on his best behaviour.
The Victorian underworld figure behaved so well authorities moved him from maximum security at Barwon Prison to restricted medium security at Loddon Prison, near Castlemaine, where he was serving six years for threatening to kill a motor mechanic.
But that changed on July 28, 2016, when a routine inspection started a sequence of events that led to the 35-year-old’s death in custody.
An inquest is expected to begin shortly in the Victorian Coroners Court that aims to determine exactly what happened inside his small room at the Middleton annex.
What we know so far is that Ferman had been moved from Barwon to Loddon three days before his death.
He was being held at the 36-cell facility run by Corrections Victoria in a room with a toilet, shower, handbasin, bed, desk, chair and mirror. It had carpet, a window, curtains and a TV.
Two prison guards at the facility walked past Ferman’s cell when they smelled smoke. A closer inspection led them to believe it was coming from Ferman’s cell, where the inmate was buried beneath a prison doona.
He was asked to remove the doona when the situation escalated.
One officer entered Ferman’s room shortly after 10am when the inmate jumped out of his bed and began throwing punches. The prison officer was struck in the face and lost a number of teeth.
Details of what followed, heard in court, reveal staff at the prison met for a number of hours planning to “extract” Ferman from his cell.
At 2.57pm they began a video recording of the extraction. Footage is expected to be played during the inquest.
Before entering Ferman’s cell for a second time, staff deployed CS gas — also known as tear gas. Officers moved in to restrain Ferman. He was handcuffed and forced to the ground before being taken to a separate room for decontamination. Less than two hours later, Ferman was dead.
Counsel assisting the coroner Jodie Burns told the opening of the state coroner’s official investigation in October that Ferman lost control of his bodily functions.
The inquest will aim to determine what impact the gas had on Ferman’s condition and how long he was subjected to it inside his cell.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews previously labelled the incident “very serious” and promised questions will be answered.
“We’ll look firstly at what exactly has happened and we won’t trample on those investigation processes,” he said.
“Then if there are any learnings, any changes, any reforms that need to come from this incident, like any other incident, you owe it to everybody involved and to the broader community to learn from every incident like this and we are committed to doing that.”
A year after Ferman’s death, a former inmate described what unfolded inside his cell.
Jim Harper, who spent six months at Loddon Prison while Ferman was held there, wrote that Ferman’s cell was opposite his.
“I could see an officer covered in blood, laying like a starfish on the floor. Another officer was injured and already being carried away,” Harper wrote.
“The (guards) entered his unit, followed by lots of shouting and commotion, and all of the inmates became silent, trying to listen to what was going on.
“We heard (Ferman) screaming in agony, for what felt like forever, but in reality it probably only lasted three or four minutes.”
Corrections Victoria issued a short statement after Ferman’s death.
“Following an earlier incident where two staff members were injured, the prisoner refused to leave his room and was subsequently removed,” a spokesman said.
“Shortly after the prisoner collapsed, with medical attention immediately provided, police attended the site and are investigating.
“As with all deaths in custody, the matter will be referred to the coroner, who will formally determine the cause of death.”
Ferman was sentenced in 2012 after being found guilty of extortion and threats to kill a man from Coburg. He was due to be released in February, 2017.