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June 24, 2006
Australia: Jihad Jack Is Assaulted, Has "Breakdown"
On March 31 a 32-year old former Melbourne taxi-driver, Joseph Terrence Thomas (pictured), was sentenced to five years' jail for receiving money from al-Qaeda. He was also convicted of forging a passport. He had become the first to be convicted under new anti-terror legislation. The judge ordered that at least two years of his jail time should be spent behind bars.
Thomas, known as "Jihad Jack", had gone to Afghanistan to fight for the Taliban, but instead had agreed to work for Al Qaeda, receiving $4,750 Aus ($3,500 US) to return to Australia from Khaled bin Attash. Attash was an Al Qaeda Islamist suspected of partaking in the attack against USS Cole in the Gulf of Aden in 2000. He had spent time in a jail in Pakistan.
Now, news from The Sunday Mail and News.com report that in his confinement at Barwon Prison, Lara, he has been assaulted. Though in protective custody, a prison source says that Thomas was "jumped and belted" by another inmate.
Following the attack which happened a week ago, his lawyer Rob Stary states that Thomas suffered cuts and bruises and was taken to Thomas Embling Hospital. From there, he was taken to the psychiatric unit of Port Phillip Prison.
Stary states that his client has suffered a mental breakdown, which is said to be linked to his time spent in jail in Pakistan. Thomas is appealing against his sentence for accepting cash from terrorists, and because of fears of his mental condition, this appeal has been brought forward to July.
His family have had to deal with his legal costs. As a result, they have had to sell the home they have lived in for 33 years. Stary states: "It has been massively draining for them, I know there have been massive financial pressures. You can talk about punishing the offender, but it also has consequences for their family."
Thomas' mother Patsy (pictured with him) has been supportive throughout the trial procedures. She is a geriatric nurse.
Before he was handed his jail sentence, Thomas had claimed that he was suffering post-traumatic stress disorder.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at June 24, 2006 11:39 PM
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