Bail granted for AMC prisoner bashed with pole

The ACT Supreme Court also heard Amir Reza Abdolali Sarbandi, 37, needed continuing medical treatment and feared for his safety in the Alexander Maconochie Centre.

Sarbandi made his first appearance in court since the June 19 bashing this afternoon, sitting in a wheelchair and resting his head against a rolled-up fleece blanket.

He applied for bail and also pleaded guilty to a charge of using a carriage service to menace or harass.

His barrister Ray Livingston said the man had suffered a “closed head injury” and had required emergency surgery at the Canberra Hospital after the bashing in June.

Sarbandi was on a puree diet and still needed a medical review of his injuries.

But the Crown argued that prison authorities had drawn up a plan for Sarbandi’s protection and would keep him in the hospital ward of the jail, where he would be separate from the general population.

Sarbandi would have access to a separate yard and would be escorted outside the hospital ward.

Justice Richard Refshauge said there were special and exceptional circumstances that warranted bail, saying the man suffered serious injuries which would be better managed outside prison.

He granted Sarbandi bail to live with his fiancée and placed him on strict conditions including a ban on contacting 19 people.

Sarbandi still faces a trial for a serious offence, which had to be delayed after he was bashed.