A STOLEN kiss was the last intimate moment Jack Thomas had with his newborn baby last Friday in the Victorian Supreme Court.
He will have to wait another two weeks for human contact when he will be allowed an interim from solitary confinement and a visit from his wife and three young children.
Thomas will remain at the maximum-security unit at Barwon Prison until he is sentenced on 31 March.
The Muslim convert became the first man convicted under Australia’s new anti-terrorism laws late last month.
He faces up to 25 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of travelling under a false passport and receiving $US3500 in funds and a plane ticket from al-Qaeda.
He was acquitted of the two more serious charges of providing resources to a terrorist organisation.
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During a pre-sentence hearing last week, the court heard Thomas took the cash because he was desperate to return to his family and should not have to spend any more time in jail.
Thomas’ barrister Lex Lasry QC told Justice Philip Cummins that if he decided upon a prison sentence it should be suspended because he cooperated with ASIO and Australian Federal Police in Pakistan on a handful of occasions.
Thomas was arrested at his Werribee home in November 2004 and spent three months in solitary confinement in Barwon’s maximum-security prison, a year-and-a half after spending five months in a Pakistani prison without charge.
“Every time this happens (detainment) his life has been interfered with,” Mr Lasry said.
The tender moment between the 32-year-old and his three-month-old son was the first since Thomas was taken into custody on Sunday 26 February.
Thomas’ wife, Maryati, whisked her only son from outside, where he was being looked after by a friend, and into the chamber during a short recess to surprise her husband.
He pointed out a mark on his son’s arm and bent over to kiss him several times on his forehead before guards interjected.
