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11 Apr
Ex WA Rebel, Gavin John McMaster, who suffered burns to 60 per cent of his body in a revenge attack only two days into his jail term, has failed to convince the Court of Criminal Appeal that his sentence was excessive.
McMaster suggested that, because of the extent of his burns, imprisonment was a greater burden on him. He was unable to get medical treatment when required and suffered mental stress because he remained in the area where the attack occurred.
But the court ruled that evidence of an incident which took place after sentencing was inadmissible and that it was an issue for the Executive Council to consider the prerogative of mercy.
In February 2002, at a nightclub in Bunbury, McMaster, then a member of the Rebels' South-West chapter, pulled out a concealed semi-automatic pistol and fired five shots at two unarmed men. The two men, who were associates of another club, would have died without emergency surgery.
He was jailed for a total of nine years, but just two days into his sentence he was lured into the education centre of Casuarina Prison where Michael Jason Newton poured flammable liquid over him and set him alight. Newton, who claimed he committed the crime to clear big drug debts, was jailed for six years without parole.
McMaster spent more than two months at Royal Perth Hospital. He still has to wear pressure garments and the wounds require medication cream twice a day.
He claimed that he now had only limited access to medical treatment and exercise equipment and the standards of hygiene in prison were not suited to a burns victim.
He suffered from depression, panic attacks and post-traumatic stress disorder.
As a first step, the Court of Criminal Appeal ruled that there was no error in the original sentence imposed on McMaster.
Justice John McKechnie said that, while the assault on him was horrific, the management of his medical condition was a matter for the prison authorities. The evidence of his burns and disfigurement was inadmissible.
