Brett Peter Cowan, the notorious killer of schoolboy Daniel Morcombe, was admitted to Royal Brisbane Hospital on Friday morning following a brutal assault by a fellow inmate. The 46-year-old Cowan sustained significant burns to his head, chest, and legs when another prisoner at Wolston Correctional Centre threw boiling water over him.
The incident occurred around 9:15 am, according to a corrective services spokesman. Despite the severity of his injuries, Cowan was reported to be conscious and lucid when paramedics arrived at the scene. A Queensland ambulance spokeswoman confirmed that he was transported to the hospital in stable condition.
Authorities are currently investigating the attack. Queensland police service’s corrective services investigation unit, along with the office of the chief inspector, are both involved in the inquiry. Another prisoner is being questioned in connection with the assault, as officials seek to understand the circumstances leading to the violent act against Brett Peter Cowan.
Recent reports from The Courier Mail indicate that Brett Peter Cowan had been moved from a protective cell into a more general prison unit earlier in the year. This change in his housing situation may be a factor in the attack, raising questions about prisoner safety and management within the correctional facility.
Tim Meehan, Brett Peter Cowan’s lawyer from Bosscher Lawyers, has voiced concerns about the prison’s duty of care. Speaking to the newspaper, Meehan suggested that the attack points to a failure on the part of prison management to protect his client. He acknowledged the public’s negative sentiments towards Cowan but emphasized that “vigilante justice is something that has never been condoned by the courts.” Meehan argued that while Cowan is imprisoned as punishment for his heinous crime, it is not the place of other inmates to deliver their own form of justice.
Brett Peter Cowan is currently serving a life sentence for the abduction and murder of 13-year-old Daniel Morcombe in 2003. Morcombe disappeared from the Sunshine Coast, and Cowan was apprehended in Perth in August 2011 following an extensive covert police operation. The young boy’s remains were tragically discovered later in the Glass House Mountains, approximately 40km from where he went missing. Cowan’s conviction in 2014 brought a long and painful chapter to a close for the Morcombe family and the Australian public. His subsequent appeal to the High Court was rejected in March of this year, solidifying his life sentence.
