Hakea Prison guards Luis Giron Sibrian, Marianne Lucas-Martin stand trial over alleged jail bashing cover up

A former inmate at Hakea Prison has recalled the shocking moment a guard he’d never met before allegedly dragged him off a chair, pressed his face against the floor and repeatedly punched the back of his head until he passed out. Heidis Santos says he was surrounded by guards inside the State’s primary remand facility on November 12, 2018 when Luis Enrique Giron Sibrian suddenly lunged at him and wrapped his arm around his neck and “wrestled” him to the ground. Mr Giron Sibrian, who was later charged with one count each of assault occasioning bodily harm and covering up the alleged incident, then allegedly knelt on top of Mr Santos. “Before I blacked out I felt three sharp blows to the back of my head,” the 38-year-old said in Perth District Court on Thursday. Mr Santos is the first witness in what is likely to be a seven-day criminal trial for Mr Giron Sibrian, and his colleague Marianne Lucas-Martin. It is alleged that Ms Lucas-Martin — who was a senior officer at the time — falsified an incident report by making no mention of the alleged bashing, or Mr Giron Sibrian. But her defence barrister, Simon Watters, told the jury his client had nothing to benefit by putting in a false report and that unlike Mr Santos’ claims, she hadn’t even been in the room at the moment of the alleged assault. In his opening address on Wednesday, State prosecutor Sean Dworcan said that in addition to Ms Lucas-Martin and Mr Giron Sibrian, there were three other guards in the small office when Mr Santos says he was attacked. And he claimed all five officers “lied about what had happened” in each of their electronic incident reports, which the prison required them to complete. “The officers all got their stories straight,” he said. “The State says they closed ranks to protect Mr Giron Sibrian “(And) what followed that assault was nothing short of a cover up.” Mr Dworcan said that according to their reports, there was no bashing, Mr Giron Sibrian wasn’t there, and Mr Santos had been the aggressor and had lunged at the officers, who’d then responded with “minimal force”. And when Mr Giron Sibrian eventually completed his own incident report the following day — after another guard prompted him to do so — “he tried to make out that his only involvement was getting a spit hood for the other officers to use”. Mr Dworcan said that effectively, Mr Giron Sibrian’s report suggested that “he wasn’t really there”. While cross-examining Mr Santos on Thursday afternoon, defence barrister Michael Perrella argued the inmate had been annoyed and angry at the time of the alleged incident because he was being transferred to Casuarina Prison. But Mr Santos maintained he’d kept his cool, and laughed in shock when Mr Perrella suggested to the court that he’d even hurled insults at one of the officers in the room — words to the effect of: “What are you going to say you Muslim p....” and “Look at you, you tough Arab c...”. “No that’s not true,” Mr Santos responded. He did, however, admit throwing a plastic bag at the feet of Mr Giron Sibrian after another officer allegedly “flicked” it at him. The former inmate claimed the bag had hit him in the face and that in a “knee-jerk reaction” he’d then whipped it back at them. “I was in shock, I didn’t expect that from an officer,” Mr Santos said. That’s when he claims chaos erupted, with Mr Giron Sibrian allegedly striking him in the head three times, “wrestling” him to the floor and then hitting him three more time. Mr Santos claimed he eventually lost consciousness, and that when he came to, a spit hood was being pulled over his face and a senior officer who he alleged was Ms Lucas-Martin exclaimed: “You hit him, you hit him!” “She sounded like she was in a panic,” he said, before admitting he hadn’t actually seen Ms Lucas Martin speak. “But it was her voice, her accent. “I said ‘Miss can I get an incident report, can I get an incident report’. There was just silence.” Mr Giron Sibrian and Ms Lucas-Martin were among five custodial officers investigated by the Corruption and Crime Commission after Mr Santos lodged a formal complaint with police in 2018. The trial continues.