Queensland appeal decision for prison rioter Roy Maxwell Major

A Court of Appeal decision handed down this month for one of the main instigators in a Queensland prison riot has revealed for the first time what was written on one of the signs the prisoners made.

Police vehicles at the perimeter of the Capricornia Correctional Centre late on Thursday night during the riots and protests.

A Court of Appeal decision handed down this month for one of the main instigators in a Queensland prison riot has revealed for the first time what was written on one of the signs the prisoners made.

The decision regarded one of the ringleaders behind the chaotic prison riot at Capricornia Correctional Centre on October 21, 2021, involving 100 prisoners that caused more than $1 million damage.

Roy Maxwell Major told staff “this means f**ing war” before the riot “descended quite quickly into mayhem”.

Extensive damage as a result of the 16-hour riots at Capricornia Correctional Centre.

A prime instigator in a chaotic prison riot involving 100 prisoners that caused more than $1 million damage has appealed his sentence claiming it was excess.

Roy Maxwell Major He was sentenced in Rockhampton District Court on December 15, 2023 for his role in the riot at Capricornia Correctional Centre on October 21, 2021.

Judge Jeff Clarke, during the sentencing, said the father of three was in jail at the time for breaching parole after he was sentenced to 12 months prison in the Woorabinda Magistrates Court on December 14, 2020.

The court heard Major was a “prime instigator, continuing agitator and willing participant” in the riot and only stopped when he succumbed to “volatile substances” he had inhaled and injected.

Judge Clarke said about 9am a prison staff training lockdown happened, cancelling visits to the jail which angered Major, who had a 10-page criminal record.

“Elders had travelled from Woorabinda,” he said.

“Three days prior to this scheduled visit and lockdown you had warned a prison officer things ‘we’re going to kick off’ if the visits did not happen.”

Police have blocked the entrance to the Capricornia Correctional Centre and paramedics are on scene after a riot broke out on Thursday morning.

Judge Clarke said Major and others became agitated and that Major said, “This means f**ing war”.

“You refused to lockdown and claimed there would be no violence, however, it quickly escalated,” he said.

Major was on the roof of the activities building about 3.30pm with the others prisoners who were still participating in the riot and remained there until about 4pm when he suffered a seizure, later stating he had injected something about midday, the court heard.

The Court of Appeal document stated there were two photographs in the schedule of facts - one shows the roof of a large building in daylight, with the words ‘Black Life Matter’.

It was not alleged that Major painted the sign on the roof or lit the fire in the photograph.

Judge Clarke said while officers were assisting Major, other prisoners threw projectiles at them.

The court heard 64 prisoners were charged and $1.2 million worth of damage was caused to the prison.

Damaged caused to the Capricornia Correctional Centre during the October 2021 riots.

Judge Clarke sentenced Major to four years prison, with parole eligibility on April 12, 2025, and declared three days of pre-sentence custody as time already served.

The sentence was cumulative of the December 2020 sentence, which had already been served, and a six-month suspended prison sentence imposed on April 12, 2021, in the Woorabinda Magistrates Court.

Major’s lawyers appealed the sentence on three grounds, according to the Court of Appeal decision document published on February 7.

Two grounds allege the learned sentencing judge made specific errors: an alleged lack of reasons for making the four-year sentence cumulative on the activated six-month sentence; and the treatment of the 149 days pre-sentence custody.

The third ground is that the sentence is manifestly excessive in the circumstances.

The Court of Appeal determined Judge Clarke did not reveal his reason or reasons for making Major serve the riot sentence and the activated suspended sentence cumulatively; that he did not err regarding the presentence custody declaration part of the sentence and taking all matters into account, while it could be said that the four-year sentence imposed for the riot offence was high, it was not manifestly excessive.

The Court of Appeal determined the sentence be altered to that Major’s early guilty plea entitles him to a degree of leniency, along with the eight-month period out of custody immediately preceding his sentence had been “one of his longest in his adult life” being a possible indication that he may have matured and rehabilitated.

It ruled Major’s sentence to be altered to 3.5-years prison (instead of the original four) for the riot offence and it to be served concurrently with the suspended sentence with his parole eligibility brought forward from April 12, 2025, to February 12, 2025

Originally published as Queensland appeal decision for prison rioter Roy Maxwell Major