A prisoner used a fake confession letter to try to pin his burglary on an innocent man, acting on the advice of "jailhouse lawyers" within the Alexander Maconochie Centre.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But Colin Booth's attempt to pervert the course of justice, described as "not the most sophisticated attempt", instead added another 18 months to his existing sentence and a year to his non-parole period.
Booth, 30, was serving time for an early-morning burglary of a Canberra home in February 2012 while the owners were asleep .
He was caught red handed by police, who found him near the scene of the crime with property taken from the home.
The ACT Supreme Court sentenced him to four years' imprisonment, to serve a minimum of two years.
He appealed against the conviction in the Court of Appeal, producing a letter purporting to be written by someone else.
In the letter, the author confessed to the burglary.
The contents of the letter, however, were false.
Booth gave it to the court on the advice of so-called "jailhouse lawyers" in an attempt to overturn his conviction and get out of prison.
"He had time to choose not to use the letter but he chose to use it," prosecutor Joel Hiscox said.
"The court can clearly see this was motivated by self-gain," he said.
He was charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice, found guilty, and was sentenced in the ACT Magistrates Court on Wednesday morning.
Special Magistrate Maria Doogan said Booth's actions, while unsophisticated, had forced the delay of his appeal, cost time, money, and police resources.
"Had he succeeded in his attempt, the result would have been a gross miscarriage of justice," she said.
The crime was described as premeditated and planned, and designed to implicate another person in Booth's crimes.
"He did this without any apparent concern for the consequences that might have followed for [the named person] if he had succeeded."
Booth's lawyer conceded imprisonment was warranted in the case, but pointed to his client's desire to rehabilitate, saying he would be given a place in a residential facility if he were paroled.
But Ms Doogan said Booth's past was the best indicator of his future, noting he was assessed as a high risk of reoffending, had a poor criminal history, and a bad record with participating in programs at the Alexander Maconochie Centre.
She said she needed to send a message to like-minded prisoners who might try to pervert the course of justice.
Booth was sentenced to another 18 months imprisonment on top of his existing sentence, and he now won't be eligible for parole until December next year.
