Just another crim in the yard: Simon Gittanys life behind bars
AUGUST 19, 2016 9:51PM
For at least the next 15 years, until December 2031 when Gittany will be 57 years old, the flashy Sydney shoe importer is one more murderer in prison greens.
His life is gone, more recent girlfriend Rachelle Louise is reportedly no longer romantically involved, and all he has to look forward to are visits from his sisters and his ageing parents.
At Parklea Prison in Sydneys west his family can crowd into the visits room for their precious moments alongside the families of bikies, child molesters, drug dealers and killers, just like Gittany.
Then for Gittany, there is the inevitable post visits strip search and return to his four by three metre cell which, with the booming prison population, he may be sharing with another inmate.
Sentenced to a minimum of 18 years, Gitrtany has served almost one sixth of that sentence.
The hot-tempered Gittany served the initial part of his sentence on suicide watch in Silverwater Remand Centre, but was later transferred to his jail of sentence, Parklea.
Life in Parklea maximum for Gittany can be both dreary and dangerous, with up to 17 hours in his cell and the remainder in the yard with the some of Parkleas 800 other inmates.
Gittany wears dark green track pants and matching T-shirt or sweatshirt, a pair of white Dunlop volley sandshoes, and, for visits, a white jumpsuit backzipped to allow as little contraband exchange as possible.
Each afternoon he is given a meal, of nutritious but bland chicken, beef or pasta, plus the next days breakfast bag of cereal and coffee, 300ml of milk and at least three slices of white bread.
Each morning he is let out of his cell around 8am for exercise, but as a long-term inmate can have the opportunity to work in the prisons wood or metal work rooms for around $60 a week.
Wherever he goes in the prison, Gittany will be under video camera surveillance.
At any time in the pod where he is living, his cell may be opened in the middle of the night, when he will be ordered to stand outside it while prison officers and dogs search for drugs, mobile phones, or even just SIM cards.
Each day, every day, Gittany be will given sandwiches at lunchtime and locked back in his cell while he eats them.
Sandwich selections include chicken, lettuce and mayonnaise, falafel and salad, roast beef and mustard, turkey, lettuce and cranberry and ham and salad.
The prison menu has remain largely unchanged for years. Measured for its precisely nutritious value, but largely tasteless food, it may remain the same for Gittanys next 15 years of monotonous routine in Parklea.
Read full article here.
BBM: Now that's Karma.
