Accused bush killer Gregory Lynn says he has become a victim in prison following a string of alleged attacks and threats including allegations he is the “killer of old people”.
Lynn, 60, is giving evidence in his own Supreme Court bail application, claiming he’s been poked, spat on, kept caged like a greyhound and paid “peanuts” for packing breakfast boxes.
The former airline pilot is due to face trial next year over the alleged murder of camper Carol Clay, 73, in the Wonnangatta Valley in March 2020.
The court heard that since his arrest five years ago, Lynn had been kept in “Draconian” conditions on remand and only permitted outside for short periods.
Lynn told Chief Justice Richard Niall of a string of incidents he’d been subjected to including a milk bottle full of human faeces and bodily fluids thrown on him.
The court heard other inmates had identified him as “Greg Lynn from TV”, which had forced him to spend long stretches in solitary confinement.
After being moved to the mainstream population and allowed to go to the gym and lunch with others, Lynn told the court a prisoner came to his cell door and threw the bottle over him.
“Some of it went all over me. I had to go straight to my cell and rinse under the shower for a very, very long time. It was a disgusting attack. I went straight to the front desk ... I told them who did it,” Lynn said.
“I was locked down straight away, I was the victim during the attack.”
Lynn was later relocated to a different remand centre where he had access to a grassed area and work in a factory.
But Lynn said there was a progressive rise in inmates with an “agenda” arriving in his unit, who he believed were police informers looking to lie to the authorities about him.
“Imagine living in a house with 10 people in an area no bigger than this courtroom. Some of them you just do not trust, cannot trust them, so it became very tense,” Lynn said.
He detailed another occasion when, while being taken back to his unit, Lynn claimed a “little gang” was waiting for him on a balcony.
Lynn said one man looked ready to explode, “like Mount Vesuvius”, and told him that he had killed before and would kill again.
“Then he said I was a killer of old people. My response was I hadn’t killed anybody,” Lynn said.
He told the court that later that day the inmate approached him again and accused him of “lagging”, a prison term for dobbing, and Lynn replied by calling him an informant.
“He poked me, leant forward and spat at me. I challenge you to bring the CCTV [to court],” Lynn said.
When the inmate was moved following complaints from Lynn, he told the court the prison unit erupted furiously and he was called a “worthless dog” who was going to be bashed and stabbed.
Lynn said he no longer felt safe in custody and was unable to be moved out of protection.
“I am the victim here,” he said.
“To say I somehow instigated the assault on myself is absolutely ridiculous.”
Under questioning from prosecutor Mark Gibson, Lynn rejected suggestions he might steal his wife’s airline hostess security pass and steal a plane.
“I worked in the airline industry for 36 years. I was a leader in that profession,” he said.
“[If bailed] I will comply with any conditions they require.”
Lynn said he was now working in the prison about a day a week packing breakfast boxes and sweeping floors, paid “peanuts” for the work he performs.
Defence barrister Dermot Dann, KC, argued his client should be bailed due to the length of time he’d been on remand, the onerous conditions in custody and the availability of a bail surety from his son, Geordie Lynn.
In June 2024, a jury found Lynn guilty of murdering Clay, and acquitted him of murdering fellow camper Russell Hill, 74. He had been sentenced to 32 years’ imprisonment with a 24-year non-parole period before his conviction was set aside.