A Wollongong judge has slammed the NSW prison system for not doing enough to rehabilitate young offenders after a vulnerable young man who had already been bashed once in detention was bashed again in another facility and then isolated.
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In sentencing 22-year-old Craig Anthony Robb on three counts of break and enter in the Downing Centre court last week, District Court Judge Paul Conlon said the young man had recently been set upon by eight inmates while in custody at the John Morony Correctional Centre in Windsor.
‘‘I find it appalling that any prisoner should be subjected to this violence and that prison authorities don’t remove the offenders but place the victim in isolation in protective custody,’’ Judge Conlon said.
‘‘I understand that staff at these facilities have a difficult job, but more needs to be done in terms of rehabilitation to ensure that prisoners are not being returned to the community more damaged than when they go in.’’
The court heard that the young men responsible for attacking Robb had also subjected him to ‘‘brutal beatings’’ during a stint a juvenile facility a number of years before.
Despite the earlier attacks, Robb had been sent to the same facility as his attackers when he was arrested last year.
‘‘The courts are called upon by law to assess an offender’s prospects of rehabilitation, but if he becomes a victim of violence and brutality what hope of rehabilitation is there?’’ Judge Conlon said.
The court heard that Robb’s life had been plagued by misfortune, beginning when his mother left him at a young age.
As a child, Robb was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. But Judge Conlon said this now appeared to have been a misdiagnosis which resulted in Robb being introduced to drugs as a youth.
