Man on attempted murder charge bases bail bid on claim of human rights breach

CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to alleged domestic and family violence.

A man charged with attempted murder has failed in a bid for freedom, partly because his human rights were being violated, as he awaits his trial.

In the ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday (19 November), the man, who Region has chosen not to name, applied for bail.

He is facing charges of attempted murder, intentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm and aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm (family violence).

His lawyer, Joshua Nottle, said his client should be granted bail, partly because he had been housed with sentenced prisoners while being held at the Alexander Maconochie Centre (the AMC) on remand, which breached human rights laws.

“The [legal] requirement is segregation. It is like being pregnant – you are or you are not, you are segregated or you are not,” Mr Nottle said.

Detainees in custody on remand are not allowed to be housed with prisoners serving a sentence unless there are exceptional circumstances.

“If [the man] doesn’t have a trial for another 18 months and he’s held in detention for those 18 months and the only way the jail can keep him segregated is to lock him in his cell for 23 hours a day, that would be overly punitive,” Mr Nottle said.

Also, Mr Nottle said as court dates for other cases were currently being scheduled into March 2025, this meant the man would likely be “in a position where he would have been in custody awaiting a trial, for which he’s pleading not guilty, for at least 18 months”.

The prosecutor said any alleged breach of the man’s rights was “so minimal as to not afford or attract” a declaration of exceptional circumstances.

He also told the court there was nothing unusual about the timeline of the man’s case.

While there had been delays as a brief of evidence was compiled, this was “all too common” and in the “usual course” of proceedings.

Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker refused bail, saying it was “somewhat premature” to raise a complaint about being remanded alongside sentenced prisoners, partly as the man had recently been moved to an area away from such prisoners.

“There needs to be positive evidence of non-compliance going forward,” she said.

Chief Magistrate Walker also said that while several months had passed since the man was first brought before the courts, that did not represent an unexpected delay.

“That is not ideal, but it’s not an inordinate delay for a matter of this type,” she said.

She acknowledged that while his lawyers had raised concerns for the man’s safety in custody, they had not yet “crystalised”.

The man was committed to trial in the ACT Supreme Court on the three charges and will return to court later this month.

If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732. Help and support are also available through the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT on (02) 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call triple zero.