A white supremacist has been sentenced to six weeks in jail for going on an "exceptionally unusual" rampage with a hammer at Canberra Hospital, where he caused $1394 worth of damage.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The ACT Magistrates Court heard on Thursday that Zachary John Froome, 24, had been subject to the Commonwealth equivalent of a suspended sentence at the time after harassing a teenage girl with vile anti-Semitic abuse.
Froome, a labourer and self-described "pure white blood", is no stranger to the territory's courts, having spent more than half his adult life behind bars.
He made his most recent appearance on Thursday afternoon after admitting charges of damaging property and driving while suspended.
The first charge arose out of what magistrate James Stewart called "an exceptionally unusual display of behaviour" at Canberra Hospital in November 2020.
Froome had just been discharged after receiving treatment for a drug overdose when he armed himself with a hammer in the car park and used it to whack a glass window.
He then turned to bashing a bin and walloping a wall with the weapon, destroying several bricks and causing them to fall to the ground.
After telling a staff member he was going to rip their head off, Froome was restrained and sedated with ketamine in what Mr Stewart described as "an extraordinary step".
"It would've been a frightening episode for hospital staff and members of the public who were there," the magistrate said.
Mr Stewart ultimately sentenced Froome to the six-week jail term, which the 24-year-old had already served on remand, telling him the punishment was more severe than it would have been had he not been on conditional liberty at the time in question.
The magistrate also fined Froome $450 and banned him from the roads for a further month in relation to the driving charge.
MORE COURT AND CRIME NEWS:
He said that despite the offender's licence having been suspended because of a failure to pay fines, police had caught him behind the wheel twice in one day in January 2021.
On the second occasion, police found Froome having "a physical dispute" with a passenger after stopping his vehicle.
While Froome has already served the jail term imposed on Thursday, he was immediately taken back to the Alexander Maconochie Centre and locked up again.
He remains behind bars awaiting his sentences on two other sets of charges, over which he will have already served more than six months on remand by the time he returns to court on February 2.
Froome is also set to apply for bail that in relation to allegations of aggravated robbery and theft, over which he claims there is not enough to evidence to even justify holding a trial.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark canberratimes.com.au
- Download our app
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram