'Class clown' lied about varicose vein surgery during bail application

After lying about how he needed surgery for varicose veins during a bail application, a self-described “class clown” tried to rope his mother into his attempt to be released from custody.

Last week, Benjamin John Wickes was convicted and handed six months and 12 days’ jail.

The 31-year-old had pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice before being sentenced by the ACT Supreme Court.

Wickes had been arrested over three separate allegations in December 2021 before applying for bail that New Year’s Eve.

But he falsely instructed his lawyer, who then told the ACT Magistrates Court that he had varicose veins and surgery was booked for January 2022 at the Royal North Shore Hospital.

His lawyer said his client “was worried that if [the operation was] put off again he might not receive the operation until quite some time in the future”.

He also said his client had been unable to work due to the pain in his leg and was worried about “the long-term issues in terms of a successful operation”.

While the magistrate declined to grant him bail for the time being, the matter was adjourned until the following month to continue the application.

Back at the Alexander Maconochie Centre, Wickes called his mother over the jail’s phone system.

He said he’d told the court he had booked an operation, so he asked her to book him an appointment and described what he proposed to say about one.

He also called a woman, who said she had “started” the process of booking him an appointment at a “private practice”.

At the continuation of the bail application, Wickes’ new lawyer gave the magistrate confirmation of a referral to a surgeon. This was not the confirmation of the surgery proceeding, which had been indicated at the previous hearing to have been scheduled for early 2022.

In response to a search warrant, in August 2022, the Royal North Shore Hospital told police Wickes had not attended or been booked in to attend the hospital since 2008.

Justice Chrissa Loukas-Karlsson said the offending was not spontaneous but was also not particularly sophisticated.

She said he clearly attempted to apply pressure on others to help in the commission of the offence.

“The offender lied to his legal representative so that false submissions could be made to a court,” she said.

Queanbeyan-born Wickes said he sought attention from his peers and labelled himself as “the class clown” during his schooling. He went on to work as a plumber and a scaffolder.

Justice Loukas-Karlsson said he had accepted responsibility and indicated that his drug use at the time contributed to his actions.

“I was desperate to get out, and I was using drugs and made a stupid decision to try and speed the process up,” he told her.

His sentence was backdated to end in November 2023 to account for time served.