A man who was once jailed for shooting a kangaroo in the head with a crossbow was convicted in the Bendigo Magistrates' Court on Tuesday on charges relating to his aggressive behaviour in custody.
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James Quinn, who told the court he changed his surname from Calleja following the 2016 incident involving 'Spot' the kangaroo, was present for the start of his June 25 hearing - one of three on different matters he is facing this week - but left before it got properly underway.
The accused arrived late and was uncooperative, initially refusing to identify himself, then stating he was "unslept" and making "hazy statements about illness," according to Magistrate Dominic Lennon.
These included that he was suffering from PTSD, had "anxiety through the roof" and had a disability that required him to sit down.
Quinn alleged he was the object of ongoing police attacks
Quinn told the magistrate he had only just discovered Legal Aid wouldn't represent him, was not capable of representing himself and hadn't received the brief of evidence.
He declined to sit at the bar table, enter a plea or watch CCTV footage of the incident in question if it was to be played by the police prosecutor.
The accused peppered his contributions with wild statements about the police, alleging he was the object of "ongoing attacks and abuse and attempts on my life" that had "snowballed" and lasted "almost a decade".
The police had "no regard for human life," he said - a comment Mr Lennon told him was unhelpful.
Quinn referred to having been kicked in the face, threatened and "offered a Panadol for a brain bleed" during the incident in question, saying it was likely he would "never ever be the same."
However, he opted not to stay in the court room and defend himself against the charges.
'He was hurting himself in the cells, he was very difficult to deal with'
Quinn was charged with assaulting an emergency services worker by spitting on her and acting in a way prejudicial to the good order or management of the jail on November 6 after he had been arrested in court that day and taken to the Bendigo police station.
The court was shown confronting CCTV footage from the station's H1 cell of the accused repeatedly throwing himself against the door and headbutting it to the point of collapse.
He could be seen, clearly enraged, repeatedly screaming, pacing, pushing the duress button and tearing and wetting toilet paper and fabric to throw at the CCTV camera in the cell in order to cover it.
The court heard Quinn had initially been "quite good" when brought in from court on November 6 but became "very belligerent and vocal" and had to be moved from the male yard, where he was initially confined with others.
Being confined alone had increased his agitation, the court heard
The custody officer he was accused of assaulting described him "banging his head and screaming obscenities".
"He was hurting himself in the cells, he was very difficult to deal with, he wouldn't take direction from anyone," she said.
According to the officer, Quinn could be heard "throughout the hallway" and was disrupting other detainees.
"One of the male prisoners said 'Let me out and I'll sort it', but of course we didn't," she said.
The officer had been aware that Quinn had "some sort of head injury" because he had "run at the wall multiple, multiple times" and had a bump on his head.
Prisoner spat through the trap at officer
She had therefore been instructed to take a photo of his injury to show to the nurse, the officer told the court, but when she opened the hatch to speak to him, Quinn "spat through the trap" at her.
The saliva, which landed on her jacket, had left her feeling "absolutely disgusted", the officer said.
Quinn had called her "a fat sl*t" and other profanities, claiming she was there to hurt him, and that he was an Aboriginal male in custody who would potentially die there.
"His profanities just went on and on," the officer said, estimating his agitated behaviour lasted from 6pm to at least 11pm when her shift ended.
Officers asked why prisoner was left to hit his head for so long
Mr Lennon asked a second custody service officer who gave evidence why no-one had gone to Quinn sooner, given the severity of his self-harm.
It was sometimes too dangerous to intervene, the officer said, and it was up to the custody sergeant who was monitoring the cells to direct officers to do so.
Mr Lennon, who worked his way through a series of legal questions during the proceedings, found the accused guilty on both charges.
The court heard Quinn had nine pages of criminal history.
He was ordered to return to court on June 27 to be sentenced.
