Jenny Denton
Three men charged over riots at the Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre in October 2023 were arraigned in the County Court on Thursday and pleaded guilty to a slew of charges relating to the violent and chaotic events.
Isaac Hindmarsh, 20, Michael Hailu, 20, and Malith Arou, 21 were among five of 13 co-accused who were over 18 at the time of the riot.
Each pleaded guilty to a single count of violent disorder, armed robbery and reckless conduct endangering life, multiple counts of aggravated burglary and false imprisonment and two of producing an intimate image, among other charges.
The court heard that on October 3, 2023 the group of 13 inmates armed themselves with improvised weapons, threatened staff and stole keys, passes and radios, which enabled them to access other parts of the prison, where they set on rivals, brutally bashing and humiliating them, while livestreaming their actions via video.
Later, they held Youth Justice workers and Parkville College teachers at the site hostage.
The riot is now the subject of legal proceedings initiated by WorkSafe, who charged the Department of Justice and Community Safety last month with failures under the Occupational Health and Safety Act to keep the workplace safe.
Court documents suggest the riot was sparked by the frustration of residents of the Monash unit over the delay of their scheduled transfer that day to the newly built Cherry Creek Youth Justice Centre and the forceful restraint of one of their friends.
According to the prosecution, the broader background was the escalating hostility between youth gangs from Melbourne’s north-west and south-eastern suburbs, which had extended into Parkville and Malmsbury youth justice centres.
At Malmsbury, detainees associated with the ‘OGK’, ‘BDK’ and ‘SSO’ gangs from Melbourne’s north-west were housed in the Monash and Deakin units, while the supporters of opposing gangs, largely from the south-east, were put into the Topaz, Coliban and Lauriston sections, court documents state.
According to the agreed version of events, the mayhem began that Tuesday at about 2pm when two Monash unit detainees intimidated a Youth Justice worker into opening a cleaning supply cupboard and armed themselves with broom handles and a vacuum cleaner pole.
After staff took refuge in the unit’s ‘fishbowl’ office, offenders beat on the windows with their makeshift weapons and challenged Safety and Emergency Response Team (SERT) members to “do something” about it.
While workers were negotiating with members of the group who were demanding iPads, other inmates of the unit were covering CCTV cameras with sauce, setting off the alarm by breaking the fire sensor and sprinkler and “fortifying” the corridor.
Meanwhile, in the Deakin unit shortly after 3.45pm, detainees got hold of a worker’s keys by producing a sharpened pen and threatening to kill her with it.
A group of seven Deakin unit detainees, including Arou, Hinmarsh and Hailu, then armed themselves with broom and mop handles and made their way to the Monash unit, prompting “cheering, handshaking and hugging” as the two groups united.
After discussing what they should do next, the co-offenders decided to “go get” one of their rivals.
As the group of 13 – who had changed their clothes and covered their faces – ran through the complex on their way to the Topaz unit, four Youth Justice officers barricaded themselves in an office and eight workers and teachers locked themselves in a toilet, hiding pairs of scissors in the cistern.
Over the course of about an hour the co-offenders located, unlocked, cornered and brutally attacked five victims in the Topaz unit, hitting them repeatedly with sharpened broom and mop handles, stabbing, kicking and stomping on them, pulling out the hair of one and spraying and smashing another with a fire extinguisher.
Three victims were later taken to hospital and one was treated by paramedics, with injuries ranging from broken fingers and fractured facial bones to knocked out teeth, bruising, blurred vision and haematomas.
In two incidents victims were made to kiss each other while their assailants streamed them on video, laughing and taunting them with comments such as, “Gay ass niggas!”
One youth was also made to strip naked and dance, then was paraded naked along a fence line with a fellow victim whose hands were tied behind his back.
In another confrontation a youth was forced to repeat “F**k East Side!” and to make a ‘West Side’ gang symbol while viewers of the streamed video cheered.
Victims were also forced to sing and kiss the feet of co-offenders.
The group had stripped the workers hiding in the toilet of their keys and radios and later forced them out of the toilet, spraying a fire hydrant through the room’s vent, causing them difficulty in breathing.
The workers were then told to sit at a table and were locked in the building.
At about 5.15pm the co-offenders used staff as cover in an attempt to access the central administration building, and were stopped by a blockade of SERT members, prompting a stand-off in which a female Youth Justice worker and male teacher had sharp objects held to their necks, and the teacher was punched twice in the face by Hindmarsh.
At about 5.30pm, with the SERT members refusing to withdraw, the co-offenders barricaded themselves into the education building, together with a group of Youth Justice workers and teachers.
As SERT members surrounded the building and sprayed capsicum spray towards it, the offenders demanded their hostages “get into the spray” and one was pushed into it.
Soon after SERT members opened the door of the building and four of the hostages escaped.
The others were then removed by the SERT crew, who continued using capsicum spray to oust the offenders, who were resisting and throwing chairs.
According to court documents, the 13 were pulled out one by one and “patted down” to retrieve the stolen swipe cards and keys, ending the four-hour-long violent siege.
Arou, Hindmarsh and Hailu, who are all in custody, will return to court for sentencing and further pleas before Chief Judge Amanda Chambers on September 15 and November 26 and November 27 respectively.
