One of Canberra's most notorious criminals is in line for a chance to write a more positive chapter in a life story that has been likened to a Greek tragedy.
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But Matthew James Massey's freedom might be short-lived if he is released back into the community, with a NSW arrest warrant hanging over his head.
The 45-year-old is currently behind bars at the Alexander Maconochie Centre, where he has spent much of his life forging a reputation as a prison hardman.
One inmate feared Massey so much he applied for bail in 2014 on the basis that he was scared for his safety while locked up with the career criminal.
Massey, who has been in and out of Canberra's jail, started his most recent stay there when he was refused bail in October 2020.
He had been arrested over an altercation the previous month, having left a friend with a punctured abdomen during a violent struggle at the victim's home in Flynn.
Massey walked into the house while the man was asleep, then started an argument when the victim woke.
After being told to "f--- off", the physical altercation ensued and Massey was heard yelling about the victim being a "weak dog".
Court documents do not explain exactly how the struggle resulted in the puncture injury that will leave the victim with a permanent scar.
Having initially been charged with more serious offences, Massey pleaded guilty last month to burglary and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
He was brought into the ACT Supreme Court for the start of his sentence proceedings on Wednesday, donning a pink shirt as he sat quietly in the dock.
Massey's barrister, Duncan Berents, applied for the 45-year-old to undergo an assessment of his eligibility for a drug and alcohol treatment order.
Such an order can be imposed where offenders are sentenced to between one and four years in jail, with the custodial part of their terms suspended in favour of a rehabilitation program.
Justice David Mossop stood the matter down to allow this assessment to occur, and the court was told about two hours later that Massey was indeed eligible.
The judge said the next step of the process would be for Massey to undergo a suitability assessment, which would take a number of weeks.
He accordingly remanded Massey in custody until January 7, when the 45-year-old's case will go before acting Justice Richard Refshauge.
That judge, who runs the court's drug and alcohol sentencing list, once described Massey's lengthy criminal history as reading like a Greek tragedy.
The drug and alcohol treatment order sentencing option did not exist when that comment was made in 2016, having only come into being three years later.
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Massey is not guaranteed to receive such an order despite being deemed eligible, and Justice Mossop said on Wednesday there may be "lots of different impediments" preventing one being made.
Mr Berents had earlier told the court there were "complicated issues at play".
Crown prosecutor Anthony Williamson had, meanwhile, pointed out that it might be hard to accommodate Massey in a residential rehabilitation facility if he needed to go to one as part of any treatment order designed to address his "persistent and chronic drug use".
Mr Williamson said these facilities had previously been reluctant to accept patients with significant histories of violence, and "Mr Massey has a far more violent history than most".
The prosecutor also told the court a warrant had been issued for Massey's arrest in relation to a breach of a community corrections order in NSW, and authorities in that state intended to seek his extradition "once he's at large".
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