'Jihad Jack' cut, beaten in jail

Sunday Herald Sun ^ | 25th June 2006 | Kelvin Healey

[naturalman1975]

"JIHAD Jack" Thomas, convicted of taking cash from al-Qaida, has been bashed in jail.

Joseph Thomas was treated for cuts and bruises after he was attacked in Barwon Prison a week ago.

And he has had a mental breakdown, his lawyer, Rob Stary, says.

While he wrestles with problems inside the prison system, his parents, Ian and Patsy Thomas, have had to sell their Williamstown home of 33 years to ease the financial burden of their son's legal proceedings.

A prison source said an inmate "jumped and belted" Thomas, even though the former taxi driver was held in protective custody.

"He might have a broken rib," the source said after Thomas was taken from the Lara jail for treatment.

But Mr Stary said Thomas was removed for psychiatric treatment. He said prison life had caused Thomas severe mental trauma -- linked to a jail stint in Pakistan

"He's had what is tantamount to a breakdown," Mr Stary said. "He is very unwell."

Mr Stary said Thomas was taken to Thomas Embling Hospital and then transferred to Port Phillip Prison's psychiatric unit.

Thomas was convicted this year of receiving money and an airline ticket from al-Qaida and of falsifying a passport. He has appealed against the conviction for receiving cash from terrorists.

The appeal hearing has been brought forward to next month because of fears for his mental state.

Thomas -- the first person convicted under new anti-terror laws -- is serving a maximum sentence of five years' jail for his crimes.

His Supreme Court trial was told Thomas, a father of three, accepted $4750 and a plane ticket home from senior al-Qaida boss Khaled bin Attash in 2002.

Bin Attash had asked Thomas to work in Australia for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

Mr Stary described the sale of the Thomas family home as sad.

"It has been massively draining for them, I know there have been massive financial pressures," he said.

"You can talk about punishing the offender, but it also has consequences for their family."

[ImpBill]

"You can talk about punishing the offender, but it also has consequences for their family."

Does it take a Law degree to figure this out?

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Ian and Patsy Thomas, have had to sell their Williamstown home of 33 years to ease the financial burden of their son's legal proceedings.

This guy's parents have rocks in their heads the size of Gibraltar.

[AntiGovernment]

"JIHAD Jack" Thomas, convicted of taking cash from al-Qaida, has been bashed in jail.

So what? Are we supposed to feel sympathy for this piece of shit?

[SubMareener]

Duplicate. Search First, Post Second.

'Jihad Jack' cut, beaten in jail ^
Posted by Hadean On News/Activism ^ 06/24/2006 2:56:44 PM EDT · 56 replies · 1,186+ views

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

My parents always told me, "You land in jail, you deal with it."

Parents that lose everything and go into debt for their kids' legal problems are idiots.

[AliVeritas]

And?

I hope to see more of it... at least everyone in prison's not converting to Islam.

[naturalman1975]

I did search - I've no idea why that didn't come up - I did a search for 'Jihad Jack', which now does seem to work. Maybe I had a typo in it.

I apologise but I do know how the place works.

[river rat]

Those that breed assholes, must live with the stink and shit...

Actions have consequences...
Inactions also have consequences...

Semper Fi

[Solamente]

Ohh! Prayers...Prayers for his friends and family. </sarc>

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

Here in Huntsville, there is a group of Moslems that try to recruit the worst of the scum in prison to Islam.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Your Statement:"So what? Are we supposed to feel sympathy for this piece of shit?"

Response: You know the rules! If a person is guilty of murder, robbery, rape, arson, treason, sedition, sodomy, espionage, etc. then one MUST feel compassion.

[AmishDude]

1. Doesn't he have an Islamic name, or was he just in it for the money? I notice that Jose Padilla's Islamic name was never spoken aloud. Nor Richard Reid.
2. Sounds like Gitmo ain't so bad, eh?
3. There needs to be no burden on the parents. They could have let the adult offspring be responsible for his own life.

[AmishDude]

And, of course, the "child" is in his thirties.

[Windsong]

Try representing yourself in court and see what happens.

[Hot Tabasco]

You can talk about punishing the offender

you betcha, thats why I do all I can to stay on the straight and narrow and not end up in ugly places like that.

Stupid people end up in pretty ugly places and that is too bad............

[ccmay]

Prisoners can be quite patriotic.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Yep, and I'm just as guilty as anybody else in my reference of this "kid".

In the last couple of months, I've heard a lot of TV news commentary on "sending your child to college." You don't send your child to college, you send your young adult to college.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

The search engine doesn't always work well. I've duplicate-posted an article or two and I swear I searched on the exact title and keywords (searching by "post time" and being conscious of searching on "all words" or "any word"). Sometimes, it just doesn't come up.

[pepperdog]

Yep, why in the world are they selling their home to provide legal "help" for their fruitcake son, he's what he is and it won't change. No doubt they've supported and indulged him far too long and look what that led to.