A prisoner who caused more than $26,000 worth of damage to Canberra's jail was "pretty much out of control" when he destroyed and damaged items that included CCTV cameras, a magistrate has said.
Chaka Freeman, an Indigenous man, was upset after he was not allowed to attend a NAIDOC commemoration at the Alexander Maconochie Centre in November 2020 because of a previous incident of property damage near his cell.
At about midday, Freeman refused to return to his cell for lunch before correctional officers left him in the exercise yard where he was "pacing around, making rude gestures and flashing [his] backside".
Then, for about two hours, Freeman caused "significant" damage to the prison, including removing screws from gym equipment and throwing them at the internal windows and CCTV cameras.
In the Galambany Circle Sentencing Court late last month, special magistrate Anthony Hopkins said prison guards' attempts to negotiate with Freeman failed.
"You continued to throw screws at the internal windows, causing eight to shatter," he told Freeman.
"You used a metal ashtray and then a metal bar from the gym to repeatedly strike the shattered windows. You then climbed up the wall and destroyed two CCTV cameras."
The Wiradjuri and Gamilaraay/Kamilaroi man pleaded guilty to a property damage charge and explained his behaviour was an "emotional reaction to being prevented from attending the NAIDOC mourning service" for his aunt, who had passed away the week before.
Dr Hopkins told Freeman this did not excuse his conduct.
"However, the grief and loss you experienced and your distress at not being able to share that experience with family and other First Nations people at the pre-arranged event does provide an explanation," he said.
Freeman eventually stopped and complied with corrections officers, who handcuffed him. He spent the night in segregation and reflected on his actions, which he regretted.
At the time of the incident, Freeman was serving a two-year jail sentence for dishonesty and driving offences.
Dr Hopkins said Freeman was denied early release once his 15-month non-parole period expired, with the November 2020 incident a significant reason behind this decision.
He ultimately found that requiring Freeman to spend further time in jail beyond the end of that sentence would not support his rehabilitation.
The magistrate accordingly imposed a partially suspended sentence of six months in jail for the property damage offence, requiring him to serve two months concurrently with his existing term.
Freeman therefore became a free man earlier this month, on the same day his initial sentence expired, with the remaining four months of the new term suspended.
