Notorious Australian mobster family to sue prison
The family of one of Australia's most notorious gangland mobsters Thursday said they planned to sue the prison system for Aus$1 million (US$1.03 million) after his savage death in jail.
Agence France-Presse
Thursday 19 April 2012, 11:42AM
Carl Williams, a central figure in Melbourne's violent criminal war which began in the late 1990s and claimed more than 25 lives, was bludgeoned to death with part of an exercise bike by a fellow inmate in 2010.
He was being held in Victoria's highest security prison and the state ombudsman Wednesday found authorities failed to act on several warnings that Williams was at serious risk.
His family said it planned to launch a compensation claim for pain and suffering caused by his murder.
"It's either a conspiracy or it's massive incompetence. I don't know if anyone can be that incompetent," Williams' father George told Fairfax radio.
"The end result, if he would have been moved (to another prison), which he asked for at least 100 times... he would still be alive today."
Williams, variously known as the "baby-faced killer" and "the smiling assassin", was serving 35 years for ordering the slayings of several rivals. He was immortalised in the hugely popular TV series "Underbelly" and was buried in a gold-plated coffin.
Victoria Premier Ted Baillieu said the state would resist any compensation claim.
"I guess everybody has got their legal rights, but I'm sure the state would vigorously defend such an action," he told ABC radio.
