Man who assaulted ex-wife wins $125,000 payout after prison stabbing
A man jailed for assaulting his ex-wife has received a $125,000 payout from the state after he was stabbed multiple times in the face, head and eyes with a butter knife by a fellow inmate.
Dylan Hartwick was being held on remand at the Metropolitan Assessment Prison on Spencer Street in Melbourne's CBD for assaulting his former wife and her male friend who needed to be hospitalised.
Hartwick shared a cell with two other inmates, including Joseph Griffiths who had a history of mental instability and a “potential for erratic and aggressive” behaviour.
Griffiths was pacing the cell room talking about satellites, bombs, terrorists and young girls in wheelchairs the day before he assaulted Hartwick on January 20, 2015, according to court documents.
“Me and the other fellow were having a bit of a chat and trying to watch the TV show,” Hartwick told the Victorian County Court.
“So we asked him politely if he could settle down a bit, and if he wanted to watch the show. He then sat on his bed with his head facing the wall, headbutting the wall continuously.”
The next morning Griffiths stabbed Hartwick in the face, head, eyes and arm with a metal butter knife.
Hartwick, who was left bleeding after the attack, was transferred to the Royal Melbourne Hospital for treatment.
As a result of the stabbing, Hartwick complained of losing his peripheral vision, and suffering from depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress.
Hartwick argued the state of Victoria was negligent in its duty of care to him by placing him in a cell with a man who was “mentally unstable, acutely disturbed, behaving erratically and posed a foreseeable risk of harm”.
The state admitted negligence and was ordered to pay Hartwick $125,000 in general damages for his physical and psychological injuries.
The money will go into a holding fund for at least 12 months so Hartwick's victims can make compensation claims on it, a Department of Justice and Community Safety spokeswoman told The Age.
"The Prisoner Compensation Quarantine Fund gives victims a chance to hold prisoners accountable for the pain and suffering they have caused," she said.
"The fund ensures any compensation payments of $10,000 or more awarded to prisoners from a claim against the State of Victoria or a private prison operator is quarantined for an initial 12 months. This gives victims an opportunity to launch a claim for damages against the prisoner."
In documents tendered to the court, Corrections Victoria deputy commissioner Roderick Wise said two prison officers raised concerns about Griffiths’ behaviour when he was transferred to the remand centre.
One of the prison officers said Griffiths was “exhibiting strange behaviour and appeared to be very unwell”.
“Griffiths said he was happy to whack a female and [the officer] had particular concerns about the safety of female prison officers being near Griffiths,” Mr Wise said.
“[Another officer] contacted her supervisor and stated that she was very concerned regarding Griffiths’ behaviour as he was wandering around and looking at things with no intent.
“[She] contacted [a prison officer] at reception and asked him how Griffiths had presented and was informed that he had been strange but cleared to be in a mainstream unit.”
Mr Wise said prison officers were observing Griffiths hourly through the observation window on the cell door.
A year after the prison attack, Hartwick was convicted of the assault-related offences against his ex-wife and her friend and sentenced to four months' jail.
Hartwick told the court he arrived at the home of his ex-wife a drug-affected state in 2014 and found her with a male friend.
"There was a big altercation and as a result from that he ended up in hospital," Hartwick said.