May 2, 2024
A freed immigration detainee was sentenced to eight years in prison for serious drug offences seven years before he allegedly bashed a cancer survivor and grandmother unconscious while on bail during a home invasion.
Kuwaiti-born Majid Jamshidi Doukoshkan was convicted on two charges of attempting to possess prohibited drugs with "intent to sell or supply" in March 2017, before he was released as part of a cohort of about 150 non-citizens who had failed the character test to be granted a visa in November.
This means Doukoshkan was flagged for deportation under the Coalition's toughened character test rules for more than six years before he was released.
On Wednesday, Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil refused to accept responsibility over the events that meant Doukoshkan was free on the day he allegedly took part in a vicious attack on grandmother Ninette Simons, 73, and her husband Philip, 76.
Two days before the alleged attack at their Girrawheen home on April 16, Doukoshkan was bailed after fronting a Perth court on fresh drug charges.
"(These are) a bunch of decisions that were made by state courts, usually with regard to state crimes," Ms O'Neil told Channel 7.
"As a commonwealth minister I can't do anything to change what state courts decide to do with regard to bail." Peter Dutton has attacked the Albanese government for not opposing bail when Doukoshkan fronted a WA court on charges of breaching his visa conditions. The Opposition Leader branded the decision an "outrage", speculating that if he had been held on remand the alleged attack on Ms Simons may have been prevented.
The government has since admitted it had not argued against Doukoshkan being freed by the magistrates court in February, despite Communications Minister Michelle Rowland saying on Tuesday "bail had been opposed".
The government had previously said it had fought against Doukoshkan being granted bail.
Doukoshkan, who was not required to wear an ankle monitor at the time of the alleged attack, has appeared in court on at least three occasions since he was freed by the landmark NZYQ High Court ruling. He was charged earlier this year with breaching his curfew orders but his case was one of about 10 dropped after a government bungle resulted in the visas being invalid.
He was granted bail on February 20, with the magistrate reportedly warning him that he was "on very thin ice" and the commonwealth had been "generous" in not opposing his bail.
On April 10, he was sentenced and fined over charges of trespass and driving with an expired licence and was also granted bail.
He was again bailed on April 14 after being charged with a drugrelated offence.
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles rang Ms Simons inadvertently during a Channel 9 interview on Wednesday, during which she told him she did not "feel very safe", she had been "let down" and questioned why Doukoshkan's ankle bracelet had been removed.
The network reported that Doukoshkan's ankle bracelet was out of battery for four days before authorities checked.
At his 2017 sentencing, the court issued Doukoshkan with "a drug trafficker declaration". He was deemed eligible for parole and his sentence was backdated to August 2015.
Anthony Albanese defended his government's failure to utilise its preventive detention laws, saying that he wanted any application to "succeed". Amid confusion over whether the commonwealth had applied for bail in the visa breach matter, opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson accused Labor of either lying or being "so utterly incompetent".
"When the magistrate released this person on bail, she said that the commonwealth was being 'generous' in allowing him not to be remanded in custody," he told Sky News. "I don't think that generosity is the emotion required towards this cohort." Queensland Premier Steven Miles said he did not think it was fair for Ms O'Neil to cast the blame on the states for decisions on managing and tracking detainees.
Under the character test rule introduced by Mr Dutton, criminals were taken from prison at the conclusion of their sentences to immigration detention in preparation for a flight out of Australia.
Many spent years there exploring legal avenues to stay. Some could not be deported to their country of origin because they had been found to be refugees.
