Yongah Hill Detention Centre immigration guard rushed to hospital for surgery on jaw after savage bashing

A Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre detainee has been charged for allegedly savagely attacking several guards at the facility, including one who needed surgery for a broken jaw. Australian Federal Police and Australian Border Force revealed details of the attacks at the Northam facility, about an hour’s drive from Perth, after enquiries by The West Australian. In a statement, an AFP spokesman said a 28 year-old detainee from the United Kingdom punched a security guard in the face last Saturday before he had to be restrained. Earlier on the same day, it’s alleged the same man had pressed a lit cigarette into the neck of another officer. He was also allegedly involved in a separate incident on December 4, in which he pushed a guard in the chest before ripping pipes off the wall in a gym area and damaging a water fountain. The detainee has since been charged with a string of offences including causing harm to, and obstructing, a Commonwealth public official, and damaging Commonwealth property. He has been remanded in custody to face Perth Magistrates Court on Friday. It is understood the guard allegedly assaulted over the weekend is aged in his 40s and was taken to Northam Hospital before he was transferred to Royal Perth for further specialist care. This photo shows the man bleeding heavily on the ground as he was treated by paramedics. The AFP has confirmed the man has undergone surgery for a fractured jaw. The Australian Border Force, which is responsible for immigration detention, confirmed it was aware of the incident at the centre. “A detainee allegedly involved has been charged with a number of offences by the Australian Federal Police (AFP), as such it would be inappropriate to comment further on this incident,” an ABF spokesman said. “Every individual has the right to go to work without being harmed, harassed or threatened.” The high-security Yongah Hill facility had 174 men in detention as at the end of July. Of those detainees, 93 per cent had criminal records. The centre has a troubled past. A 32-year-old detainee was allegedly stabbed to death in 2022. And in July this year, a 45-year-old detainee was charged with using a carriage service to make a threat and using a carriage service to harass and menace. In the latest incident, it was alleged the Moroccan national made 297 calls to the Australian Federal Police over the space of two months, in which he acted aggressively, and in one case threatened to kill people. The findings of a review by the Commonwealth National Preventive Mechanism Ombudsman into Yongah Hill, released earlier this year, found detainees had limited support services and family visits, which affected their mental health. Several areas of the facility were deemed not satisfactory, including rooms that lack the required basic amenities, such as a toilet, sink and running water.