Correctional officer Nathan Fuller went to Kempsey prison a week before Christmas expecting it would be a regular day at work, but when 6 o’clock arrived, he was forced to leave on a stretcher, wounded, bruised, and assaulted.
Two inmates held at the Mid North Coast Correctional Centre ambushed Fuller in December 2020 and assaulted and stabbed him while holding him hostage in exchange for opioids.
After being charged with two counts of property damage and two counts of taking or detaining to obtain an advantage causing actual bodily injury, each offender entered a guilty plea.
The leader of the hostage crisis, identified as DM in the NSW District Court, received a 13-year prison term with an eight-year and six-month non-parole period.
For a murder he committed when he was 16 years old, the 22-year-old criminal was already serving a 35-year sentence.
This implies that DM will not be released from prison until he is at least 45 years old in 2046, having already spent nearly two-thirds of his life behind bars.
Noel Barrett, a co-offender, was given a 10-year prison term with a 6-year, 6-month non-parole period.
On December 19, 2020, Fuller and a colleague were unlocking an office door when Barrett and DM charged at them.
While the other correctional officer ultimately made it out of the building, DM forced Fuller to kneel while screaming “I want my bupe injection” and threatening to kill his captive if he didn’t get it. DM then pressed a sharp “jail-made weapon” on Fuller’s neck.
Buprenorphine, also known as “bupe,” is a prescription opioid that is used to treat pain as well as heroin or opiate addiction. It can be given to inmates in prison to aid people who struggle with substance abuse, but neither DM nor Barrett were on the list at the time.
The two attackers continued to beat Fuller over the course of many hours, spitting on him, stabbing him with a shiv, striking him until he became blind, dousing him in cleaning solutions that gave him severe chemical burns, spraying him with insect repellent, and threatening to light him on fire.
Judge Adam Coleman stated that the perpetrators demonstrated “gratuitous cruelty” to Fuller when imposing the penalties on Friday.
He told the court, “The brutality of the assaults amounted to torture.”
After a six-hour siege, DM and Barrett gave up their weapons and were later moved to a high-risk offenders facility, but Coleman was sceptical about their chances of recovery.
He acknowledged the “devastating clarity” that growing up in dysfunctional homes with drug addiction, spousal violence, and mental health problems had on both men’s lives.
While DM hasn’t acknowledged sorrow or taken ownership of his conduct, Barrett has demonstrated feelings of regret.
Although Fuller and his coworker have recovered, the attack has left them both with post-traumatic stress disorder and other physical and mental conditions.
Because of the brazen offence, Coleman said, “what should have been a typical workday has ended with what may be lifelong psychological repercussions and limited career prospects.”
