The man who murdered Queensland boy Daniel Morcombe has been taken to hospital after a fellow inmate reportedly attacked him and threw boiling water over him today.
Prison staff called an ambulance for Brett Peter Cowan just before 9:30am this morning after he was found in the Wolston Correctional Centre. It is not yet known how badly he was injured, but the inmate in question is being interviewed about the incident.
“About 9.15am, correctional officers discovered that the 46-year-old male prisoner was injured and immediately contacted the Queensland Ambulance Service,” a Queensland Corrective Services spokesperson said.
“The prisoner was conscious and lucid and was conveyed to a Brisbane Hospital for treatment. An update on his condition is not known at this stage.
“Another prisoner is being interviewed in relation to the incident. The matter is being investigated by the Queensland Police Service’s Corrective Services Investigation Unit and the QCS’s Office of the Chief Inspector.
“As the matter is the subject of a police investigation, QCS can make no further comment.”
The attack comes only months after the murderer was removed from his protective cell and released into the general unit with other prisoners.
His lawyer has jumped to his defence saying it isn’t for others to punish him.
“I understand that there’s an awful lot of ill feeling towards him but vigilante justice is something that has never been condoned by the courts,” he said.
“He is in jail as punishment for his crime and it’s not for others who are in jail — serving punishment for their crimes — to serve out summary justice.
“It’s disappointing that the general manager saw fit to move him from his protective cell, given the fact that there have been wide ranging calls to take swift and severe action against Brett by all sorts of people.
“You have to question whether they have failed in their duty of care to him.”