Source : Perth Now news
A former airline pilot accused of murdering an elderly woman has told a court he’s been attacked in prison, including having a jug of poo and other “disgusting material” thrown on him.
Greg Lynn, 60, took the stand in the Victorian Supreme Court on Thursday, sharing details of two prison attacks and his fears he was surrounded by police informants who’d “lie about their own mother”.
Mr Lynn is seeking bail ahead of a trial in May next year over the alleged murder of Carol Clay, 73, in March 2020.
He has consistently maintained he is innocent.
The former Jetstar training captain is accused of killing Ms Clay, who vanished while on a camping trip to the Wonnangatta Valley with her boyfriend Russell Hill, 74.
Giving evidence in support of the bail application, Mr Lynn said he was first attacked in 2024, when an inmate threw a milk jug full of faeces, bodily fluids and other “disgusting material” at him.
“It was a disgusting attack,” he said.
“I had to go straight to my cell and I rinsed under the shower for a long time.”
Mr Lynn said when he first entered custody he was placed into solitary confinement and quizzed prison authorities why he was not able to mix with other prisoners.
“You won’t be safe down there,” he said he was told.
“The prisoners will be queuing up because there’s Greg Lynn from TV and they would seek notoriety.”
Mr Lynn said he was moved to another prison after the first attack, and, at first, the new place was “quite pleasant”.
But he said tensions escalated in the small management unit over “many months” before he was attacked in July this year.
In the incident, Mr Lynn said a man had told him; “you’re going to be stabbed”, poking him and spitting on him before he walked away.
The accused killer gave evidence he believed the man was a police informant and that he was surrounded by police informants in prison.
The court was told CCTV of the interaction between the two men had been sent to Victoria Police to investigate, with the investigating finding there was “no proof” the assault occurred.
Mr Lynn also said people had yelled insults at him from windows, including “Greg Lynn you worthless dog” from other units.
The court was told Mr Lynn had been moved to a different unit, where he was now living under a 23-hour lockdown in a 2.5m by 3.5m cell.
A senior prison official called to give evidence said other options had been raised with Mr Lynn multiple times, but he was “consistent” that he’d rather remain separated.
“I do not want to be placed in a unit where I will be physically unsafe or exposed to police informants,” Mr Lynn said of his decision.
Arguing in support of bail, Mr Lynn’s barrister Dermot Dann KC said his eldest son Geordie Lynn had offered up his life-savings as a bail guarantee.
Mr Dann argued the years his client had already spent on remand had met the bail test of showing exceptional circumstances justifying his release.
“I invite the prosecution to take you to any single case where a delay of four years on remand has not amounted to exceptional circumstances,” he said.
Mr Lynn was arrested and accused of murdering the pair about 20 months after the couple were last seen in the remote Wonnangatta Valley in Victoria’s High Country.
Following a 2024 trial, Mr Lynn was found guilty of Clay’s murder and acquitted of Hill’s, but his conviction was overturned by a panel of three judges in the Court of Appeal late last year.
The appeal judges found a substantial miscarriage of justice had occurred in his trial, due to unfair actions taken by the prosecution, and ordered he be retried over Clay’s death.
A new trial has been scheduled to begin in May next year before Justice Michael O’Connell.
The hearing continues.
