Gangland boss and convicted murderer George Marrogi is taking legal action against the Victorian government for breaching his human rights in prison, even though he sprayed a guard with faeces and ran a $55 million drug empire from behind bars.
In court documents obtained by The Age, his lawyers claim prison authorities and the Department of Justice and Community Safety have breached Marrogi’s rights by depriving him of outdoor exercise and the ability to socialise with other inmates.
George Marrogi squirted liquid faeces from a honey bottle onto the face and body of a prison guard.
The leader of the Notorious Crime Family gang is serving 37 years behind bars for the 2016 murder of underworld figure Kadir Ors and a lucrative drug empire he was co-ordinating from inside a high-security prison with his girlfriend’s help.
Marrogi, who has amassed a long list of enemies in the underworld, has been in nearly 24-hour-a-day lockdown since he was first arrested for Ors’ murder.
He is currently being held in a concrete room at the Metropolitan Remand Centre, where he has access to only a small courtyard at the back of the cell. The courtyard is covered with three levels of security that block a view of the sky.
Marrogi can only leave the cell to attend medical appointments and court. Social visits and phone calls are also limited, and the 35-year-old needs to be handcuffed and escorted by a team of guards whenever he is out of his cell.
He has been infamously difficult for prison authorities to manage, including allegedly smuggling in a mobile phone, threatening guards, going on a hunger strike and building a crossbow from materials cobbled together inside the prison walls.
Last week, Marrogi appeared in court to plead guilty over a nearly year-long tirade against prison authorities after he became convinced he was the target of a campaign by guards to punish him unfairly.
In one incident, Marrogi sprayed faecal matter into the face and body of a prison guard through the trap door of his cell using a honey bottle. He also kicked a guard, who was escorting him to a court appearance, to the ground, and set his cell on fire twice in 11 months.
Defence lawyer Peter Morrissey, SC, told a court last week that the outbursts had been exacerbated by Marrogi’s harsh conditions in prison and flagged a civil suit was in the works for breaches of his human rights in custody.
“His situation is appalling, your honour,” Morrissey told the court.
“He lives in his cell. He has no company but the company of the wardens and currently, it’d have to be said, that’s anything but a friendly relationship.”
Magistrate Mike Wardell acknowledged Marrogi’s confinement was extreme, but pointed out that negotiations between Marrogi and prison authorities to improve his situation had reached an impasse.
“We’ve now got this seemingly tit-for-tat situation happening,” he said.
The Supreme Court documents say Marrogi’s lawyers are seeking an injunction requiring prison authorities to allow him to exercise, spend an hour outdoors every day, and “meaningfully interact with other prisoners”.
They are also seeking an acknowledgement from the government that the existing courtyards at the back of high-security cells do not constitute “open air”.
The matter will return to court for a directions hearing on Wednesday.
John Silvester lifts the lid on Australia’s criminal underworld. Subscribers can sign up to receive his Naked City newsletter every Thursday.