Craig Anthony Glew: Prisoner charged with $41k of damage to cell and possessing valuable items found in bush

An Albany prisoner who trashed his cell has received more jail time after he was found with passports, mountain bikes and $3000 worth of fishing gear he said he found in a bush. Craig Anthony Glew appeared via video link from Albany Regional Prison in Albany Magistrates Court on Thursday charged with two counts of unlawful possession, and one count of criminal damage or destruction of property. The 32-year-old pleaded guilty to all charges, having previously denied the unlawful possession charges before they were downgraded from stealing. Between June 9 and July 4, Glew said he found two mountain bikes — one adult’s and one child’s size — along with a duffel bag containing $3000 worth of fishing equipment in a bush across the road from his home. On June 22, a neighbour saw him bringing a grey backpack containing a HP laptop, five passports, a citizenship certificate, a marriage certificate and flight crew licence into his home, also found in a bush. Glew’s girlfriend posted on social media looking for the rightful owners of the mountain bikes after Glew admitted he “knew they were stolen”. On July 4, police found the stolen property at Glew’s home and arrested him. Magistrate Erin O’Donnell said while there was a “fair bit of property involved” with high monetary value, it was “the important documents that are the most valuable”. “There’s not the suggestion that you were planning on doing anything nefarious with them, but more that you knew someone was without them is the problem,” she said. Glew was also charged as one of five prisoners who damaged their cells during a riot on December 26 at Albany Regional Prison that caused a collective $208,405 worth of damage. After a disturbance on Christmas Day, which Glew denied involvement in, he and his four co-accused were moved to an alternative holding facility, denied breakfast and lunch, and not allowed outside to exercise or shower. At 9am on Boxing Day, Glew joined the others in destroying his cell in protest, damaging plumbing, masonry and fixtures, and smashing two windows and rendering the cell unusable. Defence lawyer Bruno Illari said Glew denied committing $41,000 worth of damage but he was not in a position to dispute it. While Ms O’Donnell accepted Glew was not involved in the Christmas Day disturbance, she said the cell damage was a “serious incident” and “there were lots of people who descended into chaos on that occasion”. Ms O’Donnell sentenced Glew an additional 10 months in jail, extending his total imprisonment to four years and two months.