More prison for inmate who attacked guard with racquet

A prisoner who claims to have hit a corrections officer in the head with a squash racquet to get transferred away from heroin dealers will spend additional time behind bars. Jack James Peterson, 29, pleaded guilty on Monday in Brisbane District Court to one count of serious assault against a corrective services officer with an offensive instrument causing bodily harm. Peterson was in an exercise yard at Brisbane Correctional Centre on January 25, 2023 when he started threatening guards. "Get your boys, send them in, I'll punch on," Peterson told the guards. When members of a riot response squad entered the yard, Peterson hit one of the guards four times in the head and hands. The 34-year-old male guard suffered a contusion to the forehead and a broken thumb, which required surgery to insert a metal plate and extensive rehabilitation. Peterson told Judge Jodie Wooldridge he was sorry for assaulting and injuring the guard, who had "been good" to him, during his attempt to be sent to punitive detention. "I felt like there was no way for me to stay away from (prisoners) pushing heroin and sitting in the back of the unit shooting up. That's no excuse for what I did," Peterson said. He said he had been drug-free for the past five years after becoming more involved in his Islamic faith. The crown prosecutor said Peterson was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment in 2019 in Cairns for "horrific" torture offences and had a year added for assaulting a guard. Judge Wooldridge heard Peterson had five other convictions for assaulting correctional officers and had been in maximum security and solitary confinement since the 2023 offence. Peterson said he previously had no life outside prison but now sought release as he needed to help his family members on the outside. "I'm not that person anymore," he said. Judge Wooldridge said she was required to sentence Peterson to further prison time as "corrective services officers have an important role to play". Peterson's sentence was increased by 18 months to February 2031 and his parole eligibility date was pushed back four months to February 2026.