The prison letter that mobilised Australia’s most dangerous criminals

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A group of Victoria’s most dangerous criminals are attempting to launch a class action against the state government over conditions inside a new $1 billion jail.

At least 11 prisoners in maximum security are seeking to have their jail terms slashed, by accusing the Victorian government of human rights abuses while they were temporarily housed in a high-security unit at the new Western Plains prison in Lara, north of Geelong.

The Supreme Court challenge was launched in May and has since gathered support among inmates – including murderers, gangland figures and violent offenders – who were held at the high-security 44-bed Karlton unit between April and July.

The inmates were temporarily sent to the new prison – which formally opened in July, though construction was completed in 2022 – in April after staff and prisoners were evacuated from Barwon Prison due to a suspected gas leak.

This masthead revealed in August that notorious criminal Christopher Dean “Badness” Binse was among two high-security prisoners suing the state over prison conditions following their stay at the Karlton unit. Another inmate, Alexander Semaan, made near-identical claims in his case for his stay at the neighbouring Barwon’s Melaleuca unit.

Another seven maximum-security prisoners have launched near-identical proceedings, including Ramazan Acar, who stabbed his two-year-old daughter to death in 2010; Daniel Treasure, jailed for 20 years for murdering a drug dealer after posing as a woman; and Timoteo Timoteo and Ocean Kidwell, the two men who attempted a daytime execution on the M80 freeway in Melbourne’s northern suburbs last year.

Court documents obtained by this masthead detail an inmate, who was jailed for life in the 1980s, orchestrated the flurry of legal cases from behind bars by sending open letters to fellow inmates and offering to assist them launch their own action.

The group argue the cell yards and exercise yards at the Karlton unit were confining to the point that it denied their right to an hour of open air each day, which breached the Charter of Human Rights.

“A day in the cell in the Karlton unit of [Western Plains] felt like a 24-hour lockdown day at Barwon Prison,” one of the group’s affidavits says.

They claim the roof prevented any direct sunlight from entering both the cell yard and exercise yards. “This is an enclosed space in every sense of the word ‘enclosed’, it is not in the least bit open air,” court documents state.

Each prisoner is asking for the court to make a range of declarations, including that the exercise yards at the Karlton unit are non-compliant with the human rights charter.

In September, a judge refused to allow the case to run as a class action, which is being appealed.

An open letter was sent to inmates jailed at the unit around the same time, outlining the intention to fight for a reduction to their prison sentences.

Under Victorian law, prisoners are eligible for a maximum four-day sentence reduction for each day spent in emergency or deprived environments. These are known as emergency management days (EMDs).

“The prison system is arguing that our cases should not be allowed to benefit any other prisoner because there is no evidence that other prisoners [want to complain] about the yards in the Karlton unit or get the EMD’s [sic]. So [we ask if] you will support us in the case we are bringing,” the July letter said.

The construction of Western Plains Correction Centre in Lara cost $1 billion.

The two men who attacked gangland figure Tony Mokbel, Teira Bennett and Eldea Teuira, responded to the letter, as did serial rapist Vinod Kumar; Carlos Lam, who attacked a prison guard; and Bassam Tiba of the notorious Tiba crime family. But so far, they have not launched their own proceedings.

Binse said in his affidavit: “I did not feel the sun on my skin as the roof of the yards are fully covered by iron sheeting, thick bars, and some tightly woven mesh covering which allows very little light to come through.”

Tiba said that the lack of gym and kitchen, as well as the limited phone calls, made him feel lonely, depressed and, at times, suicidal.

Another inmate said the unit was a “waste of taxpayers money”, saying there were daily issues with lights, toilets and ventilation.

Treasure said: “The exercise yards are the worst I’ve ever been held in. Where I’m totally 100 per cent blocked from sunlight as roof is all concrete slab as well as the walls are one end with a mesh cage.”

None of the prisoners who have joined the legal fight are currently housed at the Karlton unit.

A Department of Justice spokesperson declined to comment, saying it would be inappropriate to comment on ongoing court proceedings.

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