Salim Mehajer is currently behind bars in Silverwater Correctional Centre, where he has been for more than a month, as he awaits trial on charges of perverting the course of justice and conspiracy to cheat and defraud.
Per a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, however, he seems to be having a tough time, with fellow inmates mocking him for being “high maintenance”, and reportedly placing a note reading “princess” above his cell door.
A former Silverwater inmate spoke to Fairfax and highlighted the difficulties that a high-profile prisoner like Salim Mehajer might face behind bars, saying:
“It could be just a joke, but in my experience being called high-maintenance is a sure sign of disrespect. From my perspective, because he is well-known, someone might be trying to get under his skin and find a weakness in him.”
The source continued:
“Anyone going inside will give you advice to keep to yourself. There are a lot of dangerous people in there so you need to be mindful not to disrespect anyone and [be wary] of the way you talk and who you are talking to. But you also can’t be seen to be a pushover and an easy target, you need to get on the front foot.”
Before his incarceration in Silverwater, Mehajer spent several days in a Surry Hills lockup, and his former cellmate there gave an interview to The Australian, as you do, saying that he appeared lonely and depressed and was “too polite” a person to do any serious prison time.
Earlier this week, Mehajer was sentenced to a three-year good behaviour bond for the assault of a taxi driver outside The Star casino in Sydney, after earlier pleading guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and destroying or damaging property.
Last week, he was found guilty of assaulting Seven Network reporter Laura Banks, but there was no penalty imposed, as the magistrate found that he had been “hounded” in a “predatory” manner by reporters, before slamming a car door on Banks.
Mehajer remains incarcerated on the charges of conspiracy to cheat and perverting the course of justice, which stem from an alleged incident in which he “staged” a car crash to avoid a court hearing for his assault matter.
He was among seven arrested in relation to the supposedly staged car crash, and has denied the allegations.
