Sentenced prisoner handed extra jail term for violently assaulting three Albany Regional Prison guards

A prisoner who left a guard with a broken nose and violently attacked two others while they tried to de-escalate an argument has been handed additional jail time on top of an existing multi-year sentence. Warrick Lee Verwey, 31, appeared before Albany Magistrates Court on November 25 via video link from Hakea Prison, to be sentenced on three counts of assaulting a public officer. Police prosecutor Sgt Warrick Walker told the court all three charges stemmed from one incident at Albany Regional Prison on July 10. He said Verwey had got into an argument with another prisoner, and two prison officers tried to restrain him in handcuffs and remove him from the area to quell the argument before it escalated. Refusing to co-operate, Verwey punched one officer in the face and broke his nose, then chased the second officer, kicking her and punching her in the head as she tried to protect herself. Seeing the scuffle, a third officer came in to break up the melee. Verwey punched him twice in the face. Sgt Walker said Verwey charged at the second officer again and she used capsicum spray, which finally stopped him, and he was restrained and taken into an isolation cell. He spent one day in isolation at Albany Regional Prison before he was transferred to Hakea the following day, where he spent a further 13 days in isolation. Defence lawyer Kyah Langdon said Verwey was a diagnosed schizophrenic, and was in the process of being taken off depot injections at the time of the incident. She said Verwey “really wasn’t feeling well or like himself” on the day of the assaults, and believed the guards were “out to get him”, but conceded that nobody deserved to be assaulted at work. She noted Verwey was a sentenced prisoner and was due to complete his 2½-year sentence in February. Sgt Walker emphasised the importance of keeping order at prisons, for the safety of both inmates and staff, and argued the seriousness of Verwey’s “sustained” assault on multiple officers, which caused lasting physical harm to one of them. Magistrate Matthew Holgate noted the serious bodily harm caused to one of the officers, and their right to be safe at work. “People don’t go to work to be assaulted, no matter what their job is,” he said. Verwey was sentenced to nine months imprisonment, to be served cumulatively on his current sentence, and was made eligible for parole.