The NSW government is moving to close a legal loophole that allowed one of Australia’s most dangerous criminals to have his sentence for bashing a prison guard quashed.

Notorious criminal Bassam Hamzy originally had his sentence extended for assaulting the prison officer, but a sympathetic judge overturned it, saying he had already been punished enough by having his prison privileges restricted.

Now, the state government is ensuring this will never happen again by moving legislation to make sure prisoners who assault staff can have their jail privileges withdrawn without it affecting other charges.

NSW Corrections Minister Anthony Roberts tells Ray Hadley the community expects prison officers to be able to do their job safely.

“There are occasions where it seems in the general community that the judicial system is out of touch with broader community expectations.

“In this case, our job is to ensure that our corrections officers and staff are able to undertake their job safely, efficiently, and with authority.”

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