An Islamic State-inspired fanatic known for cruel attacks on fellow inmates has had his sentence cut after a court was found to have made errors when sentencing him.
But Bourhan Hraichie, 25, whose crimes include carving an IS slogan into a man’s forehead and attempting an “exorcism” on another, still has decades to go before he’s eligible for parole.
Hraichie will remain behind bars until at least October 2046, an appeals judge declared on Wednesday.
His lengthy sentence was imposed to punish a series of serious crimes.
The Sydney-born extremist was doing time for a break-and-enter when he committed his first attack on a cellmate in 2016.
Hraichie and the victim were introduced to each other on April 7, the same day they were about to begin sharing a cell.
The victim, who was doing a short stint in prison and due to become free a few months later, told Hraichie he was an armed forces veteran.
That fact alone was enough for Hraichie to launch a brutal attack on the man.
After their cell door had been locked, Hraichie punched the man unconscious in his bed, and proceeded to waterboard him on the floor using a blanket and hot water.
Hraichie said “die soldier, die” during the attack and also spat in the man’s face.
He then carved the message “E4E” into the man’s forehead. The acronym was described as an “ISIS slogan” in court documents and is thought to mean “an eye for an eye”.
Around the same time, Hraichie also tried to send a letter to the Commissioner of NSW Corrective Services, where he threatened he would “turn your jails into slaughterhouses” and “personally execute you in public”.
The fanatic‘s next attack on a cellmate happened in April 2017, when he hogtied a man and whipped him with an electrical cord.
Hraichie said that attack was motivated by the victim‘s admission he had stopped praying and begun watching pornography and making alcohol.
The attack was described in court documents as “some form of exorcism”.
A panel of appeals judges said on Wednesday that errors had been made when sentencing Hraichie.
The panel found the justice who sentenced Hraichie for the “exorcism” attack had been misinformed about the maximum penalty for common assault,
It also found the sentence for the carving attack, set out by a different justice, was “manifestly excessive”.
The win for Hraichie means he will be eligible for parole in October 2046, rather than August 2047.
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