<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A convicted murderer was "overwhelmed with paranoia" when he </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/bassam-hamzy-prison-attack-goulburn-brothers-for-life/34267c3b-3b67-4238-b132-e55efbe26d35" rel="" target="_blank" title="slashed at notorious crime boss"><span>slashed at notorious crime boss</span></a><span> Bassam Hamzy with a shiv in the prison yard.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ricky William McNamara, 32, approached the Brothers 4 Life founder in the exercise yard used by high-risk prisoners at Goulburn Supermax jail on December 21, 2023.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Both men had been searched in their cells and handcuffed before being brought out to the exercise yard, which was otherwise empty.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/nsw-central-coast-debris-balls-wash-up-on-beaches/f4fd705c-bd6c-421d-b971-eeaf0ec3543e" target="_blank"><strong><span>Mysterious debris balls wash up on NSW beaches again</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As he was being uncuffed, McNamara reached into his pocket and pulled out a shiv, Goulburn District Court was told today.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The convicted killer turned on Hamzy, who was still restrained, and thrust the weapon towards his upper chest and head.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Both men "assumed a fighting stance" and Hamzy blocked the blows with his bound hands and kicked out towards McNamara, the court was told.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/paranoid-killer-ricky-william-mcnamara-sorry-for-shivving-notorious-crime-boss-bassam-hamzy/171a0170-b566-47d4-b52c-0b325e1f0aea" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The brawl lasted one minute and 40 seconds, and Hamzy's face was cut before corrective officers fired gas into the yard.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>McNamara later expressed regret for attempting to shiv Hamzy and explained he had been "overwhelmed with paranoia and worry" at the time.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/sydney-nsw-rain-flood-risk-forecast-warnings-updates/01a8b26d-c110-46a6-8f1e-dcec52c7bd7e" target="_blank"><strong><span>Millions facing days of flood risk as torrential rain eases</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"My past trauma made me constantly feel threat (sic), and I believed I was going to be attacked," he wrote in a letter of apology read out in court.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"That belief triggered a reaction in me where I acted first to avoid being harmed."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>McNamara revealed his tragic upbringing shaped his defensive thinking but he wants to set a better example.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I've learned to survive by always being on guard," he wrote.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The court was told he has been diagnosed with complex PTSD disorder, substance use disorder and an antisocial personality disorder.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/bassam-hamzy-prison-attack-goulburn-brothers-for-life/34267c3b-3b67-4238-b132-e55efbe26d35" target="_blank"><strong><span>CCTV shows violent attack on one of NSW's most notorious prisoners</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>When sentencing McNamara for one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, Judge David Barrow noted there was no evidence of any "rational reason" behind the attack.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He found the objective seriousness of the offence was limited, given the short duration of the melee, Hamzy's "spirited and effective resistance", and the minimal injury inflicted.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>McNamara was sentenced to a further 12 months behind bars, part of which will be served alongside his current jail term.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He will be 53 years old when his non-parole period ends in August 2046.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/why-is-it-so-wet-in-nsw-dry-melbourne-extreme-weather-explained/5584f062-b265-467f-9bac-9b3b943e26d3" target="_blank"><strong><span>Great for Melbourne, bad for Sydney: The factors causing August's strange weather</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Five years were added to his initial 30-year term in 2023 after he tried to behead an alleged child abuser with a knife made out of razor blades, paddle pop sticks and masking tape.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hamzy meanwhile has been repeatedly the subject of attacks including being punched in the face repeatedly by rival gang member Talal Alameddine during a wild brawl in 2019.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He was also shivved by another inmate in February 2024.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hamzy has spent the past quarter of a century behind bars since being taken into custody when he was 19 over a fatal shooting on Sydney's Oxford St in 1998.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While in prison, he founded the Brothers 4 Life gang - also known as the Hamzy family - which has been active in Sydney's ongoing gang wars.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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