Rebecca Krutsky jailed for 'jugging' Narcotics Anonymous volunteer at Canberra's prison

An inmate who ‘jugged’ a volunteer at Canberra’s prison, leaving her with pain and scarring, has been handed a jail sentence for the “appalling” attack.

The volunteer went to the Alexander Maconochie Centre on 6 November 2022 to facilitate a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, only the third time she had performed such a role at the prison.

During the meeting, Rebecca Katherine Krutsky walked into the room carrying two cups of tea.

The volunteer thought Krutsky, a person she knew, was approaching her to hug her, but instead, Krutsky poured the cups of tea over her chest and back before saying something like, “You know what that’s for”.

The volunteer instantly felt intense pain and went into a bathroom to put cold water on her burns, where she saw her skin had already started to peel.

When corrections officers arrived, they heard detainees shouting, “She jugged her, she jugged her. It was Krutsky”.

The officers caught up to Krutsky and asked if she had thrown boiling water over the volunteer, to which she replied that she had but said, “It wasn’t boiling water; it was just two cuppas”.

The volunteer was taken to Canberra Hospital with blisters over her neck, back and chest. She continues to experience “stinging” and has been left with scarring.

Krutsky was found guilty of a charge of recklessly inflicting actual bodily harm after a judge-alone trial last year before being sentenced by the ACT Supreme Court on Wednesday (24 April).

The 52-year-old had been granted parole over a sentence she received in the ACT Magistrates Court last year but has been held in custody on remand over this ‘jugging’ incident for almost 220 days before her sentencing.

Justice Chrissa Loukas-Karlsson said the Narcotics Anonymous meetings at the AMC stopped due to Krutsky’s attack.

“The victim did not deserve what happened to her,” she said.

“What you did to this young woman was appalling.”

She also said the women at the prison did not deserve to lose their Narcotics Anonymous meetings, which could have changed their lives for the better.

Krutsky has a long history of illicit substance use and now works in the AMC bakery.

In a letter to the court, she said she and the volunteer had been friends before the incident, and she wanted to apologise to her.

Justice Loukas-Karlsson said Krutsky’s prospects of rehabilitation in the community were guarded but had improved significantly.

Her lawyers said she had shown a much-improved attitude in prison and was now described as a model detainee.

She was convicted and sentenced to almost 12 months in jail, backdated to account for time served, which means she is eligible to be released from September 2024.

Her sentence from the Magistrates Court means she will remain on parole until March 2025.

“You are never too old to be the mother and the grandmother that your family need,” the judge told her.

“Now it’s time for you to show your family, the court and the community that you can rehabilitate yourself outside the AMC.”