More jail for Risdon prisoner who burned paedophile with hot water

A ‘coginitively immature’ prisoner with a history of rampages and rioting has copped more jail time for scarring the face of a mentally disabled paedophile with hot water from an urn.

A RISDON prisoner who threw boiling water in the face of an obese child sex offender, leaving him with some permanent scars, has copped more jail time.

Maximum security prisoner Erich Leonard Ungerhofer, known for his distinctive facial tattoos and his history of similar offending in custody, will spend at least another 11 months in jail for the January 2019 attack.

The mildly intellectually-disabled paedophile was sitting on his own when Ungerhofer, then 22, filled a large plastic container with hot water from an urn, the Supreme Court of Tasmania heard on Friday.

As the injured sex offender tried to get away, Ungerhofer ran after him and punched the back of his head.

Erich Leonard Ungerhofer leaves Hobart Supreme's Court.

“As a result of the water being thrown on him, the complainant suffered burns to his right cheek, right ear and the right side of his neck,” Justice Robert Pearce said.

“The burns have healed but he will be left with some permanent residual scarring, mostly on his neck but also on his face. But for his long hair, glasses and beard the burns may have been extremely serious.”

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He said Ungerhofer, who was identified with CCTV footage after initially denying the attack, had previously threatened his victim – “an easy target” – with violence if he came out of his cell.

Justice Pearce noted it wasn’t the first time the “attention-seeking” and “cognitively immature” prisoner had acted out in jail.

Ungerhofer, who has rarely left Risdon Prison since late 2016 for a variety of assault, property, dishonesty and anti-authority offences, took part in two prison rampages during March 2017 with a combined damage bill of $130,000.

Erich Leonard Ungerhofer faced the Supreme Court over his role in a riot at Risdon Prison in August 2017. Picture: MATHEW FARRELL

In the first rampage, he stripped down to partial nudity and smashed up the sprinkler system, basins and other fittings before pretending to swim on the floor and making sexual gestures.

A few weeks later, he and another prisoner threw medicine balls at two guards before using mop heads and broom handles to unleash destruction on a prison kitchen, furniture and fittings before flooding his unit with a fire hose.

In October 2017, Ungerhofer urinated in a cup and threw it at a fellow inmate, then in March the following year he threw hot water at another prisoner and punched him.

He eventually pleaded guilty to one count of common assault over the 2019 attack before a trial was due to begin.

Justice Pearce said he didn’t have a mental illness or a mood disorder but had intellectual functioning in the borderline range, had a history of resorting to aggression, destructive behaviour and self-harm, and would need high levels of support to reintegrate into society.

Ungerhofer was jailed for 16 months as of October last year, with a non-parole period of 11 months, and will be placed under a two-year community correction order upon release.