Tony Mokbel ‘a suicide risk’ from isolation in jail

Drug kingpin Tony Mokbel could be at risk of suicide due to his isolation in high risk security prison, his lawyers say.

Tony Mokbel. Picture: AFP

Tony Mokbel’s “extreme” social isolation in prison is increasing his risk of suicide and psychosis, his lawyers say as he seeks to have a 30-year sentence reduced.

Mokbel, sentenced in 2012 to 30 years in jail with a non-parole period of 22 years for drug trafficking, is appealing the term on the grounds Nicola Gobbo was acting as his lawyer while informing on her underworld clients to police.

Represented by barrister Julie Condon KC, Mokbel appeared in person at Victoria’s Supreme Court.

Ms Condon said according to medical reports, her client was at risk of suicide and psychosis because of the “extreme adverse effects associated with long-term isolation”. “As a consequence of that social isolation, his mental health will likely decline,” she quoted from a medical report.

The court heard Mokbel told a prison psychiatrist “he simply wanted to be placed in the mainstream prison population”.

Two inmates at Barwon prison, 21-year-olds Teira Bennett and Eldea Teuira, were sentenced to jail after they attacked Mokbel, who was knocked unconscious and stabbed with a makeshift shiv on February 1, 2019.

Ms Condon described the assault as “cataclysmic”, leaving him with an acquired brain injury and suffering from ongoing cognitive issues.

She said his custody condit­ions “impeded the rehabilitative process”. “(Mokbel) suffers social isolation and lack of rehabilitation opportunities and ser­vices,” she said.

After he woke from a 24-day coma, Ms Condon told the court, Mokbel was buffeted between cells at high-security units in Barwon prison, including the Acacia and Melaleuca units, for more than 20 hours a day and was limited to speaking with one other prisoner.

Since the attack, he has been separated from the mainstream population, despite his wishes, the court heard.

Mokbel “demonstrated a remarkable albeit incomplete recovery from his traumatic brain injury”, a prison psychiatrist noted.

Quoting from a medical report, Ms Condon said her client’s speech was inhibited and his capacity to plan and problem-solve has been reduced. “Extreme social isolation (does) not support optimal recovery,” she said.

Mr Mokbel participated in a six-day hunger strike in 2021 to protest against Covid-19 restrictions that limited inmate face-to-face contact with family members and lawyers, the court heard.

The drug kingpin also suffered a heart attack in March last year, followed by a mini heart attack in April.

Mokbel “has not set foot on grass” since the attack in 2019, and is able to exercise only by going to the gym or running.

Three judges in the court of appeal reserved their decision on Monday, meaning they adjourned the court to decide whether Mokbel’s sentence will be varied.