Benjamin John Wickes, 33, got into a fight with another prisoner at the Alexander Maconochie Centre. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
A fight kicked off in Canberra’s jail after a sports match and escalated into one detainee biting a chunk out of the ear of another as well as gouging him in the eyes.
Several detainees at the Alexander Maconochie Centre were playing volleyball in June 2023, including Benjamin John Wickes.
He and his soon-to-be victim were playing on opposite teams and exchanged words when the game ended before Wickes threw punches that the victim managed to block.
The victim punched Wickes back, but the latter tackled him to the ground, bit a chunk out of his ear, then spat the piece out.
Wickes sat on top of the victim, repeatedly hitting him in the head, and gouged his eyes with his fingers. When the victim tried to get up, Wickes put him in a chokehold until he couldn’t breathe.
The now-33-year-old pleaded guilty to charges of causing grievous bodily harm and choking over the attack, which was caught on CCTV, before he was sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court on Monday (29 September).
He also pleaded guilty to a charge of using a carriage service to menace in an unrelated incident.
When it came to the attack, Justice Verity McWilliam said it carried a degree of premeditation, although the fact it occurred during a team sport game indicated it was somewhat opportunistic.
“There was a high degree of violence, and the consequence was severe in terms of a loss of a body part,” she wrote in her published decision.
She also said Wickes hadn’t shown any genuine remorse, as the comments he made after the attack were “the opposite of compassion or any feelings of regret”.
She said he had a significant criminal history, including numerous offences of violence, but had a severely disadvantaged upbringing and experienced trauma in his life.
“It has undoubtedly impacted upon his ability to regulate and respond and adhere to community standards of behaviour,” she said.
“He is a person who deserves as much care and support as the system can provide, in order to overcome his challenges.”
Justice McWilliam said he had undertaken rehabilitative programs during his remand at the AMC and had been punished while at the jail for the assault on the volleyball court.
Wickes was convicted and sentenced to a total of about one year and five months’ jail with nearly a seven-month non-parole period, which means he can be released in November 2025.
The sentence effectively meant he had to spend an extra 10 months behind bars on top of a previous sentence.
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