Ricky William McNamara, aged 32, confronted the founder of Brothers 4 Life in the exercise yard designated for high-risk inmates at Goulburn Supermax prison on December 21, 2023.
Both men had been searched in their cells and handcuffed before being brought out to the exercise yard, which was otherwise empty.
“My past trauma made me constantly feel threat (sic), and I believed I was going to be attacked,” he wrote in a letter of apology read out in court.
“That belief triggered a reaction in me where I acted first to avoid being harmed.”
McNamara revealed his tragic upbringing shaped his defensive thinking but he wants to set a better example.
“I’ve learned to survive by always being on guard,” he wrote.
The court was told he has been diagnosed with complex PTSD disorder, substance use disorder and an antisocial personality disorder.
During the sentencing for one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, Judge David Barrow commented that there was no apparent “rational reason” for McNamara’s attack.
The judge considered the seriousness of the offence to be limited, given the brief duration of the altercation, Hamzy’s “spirited and effective resistance”, and the minor injuries that were sustained.
McNamara was sentenced to a further 12 months behind bars, part of which will be served alongside his current jail term.
He will be 53 years old when his non-parole period ends in August 2046.
In 2023, five years were added to his original 30-year sentence when he attempted to decapitate an alleged child abuser using a weapon fabricated from razor blades, paddle pop sticks, and masking tape.
Hamzy has frequently been targeted by attacks, including an incident where rival gang member Talal Alameddine repeatedly punched him during a chaotic fight in 2019.
He was also shivved by another inmate in February 2024.
Since being detained at the age of 19 for a deadly shooting on Sydney’s Oxford St in 1998, Hamzy has spent the last 25 years incarcerated.
While in prison, he founded the Brothers 4 Life gang – also known as the Hamzy family – which has been active in Sydney’s ongoing gang wars.
