Hengky Irawa, 62, won’t serve any time in jail for putting hydrochloric acid in an Australian gay sex club’s lube dispenser. While prosecutors had pushed for hate crime charges and a stiff sentence, Irawa was released on a two year “good behavior” bond and the judge ruled the incident wasn’t a hate crime.
The magistrate ruled in favor of Irawa’s defense team, agreeing that the man is mentally ill. His lawyers had argued that the incident wasn’t a hate crime because he wasn’t intending to harm gay men specifically. He was upset that he had been thrown out of the club earlier that year.
Irawa poured the acid into one of the club’s lube dispensers, but an alarm went off and management caught him the act. Police charged him with administering poison with the intent to cause injury, distress or pain, and malicious damage according to the Daily Mail.
His defense team petitioned to have the charges dealt with under a national mental health law. A doctor who performed a psychological test on Irawa testified that he is mentally unstable and called his actions and “irrational, uncharacteristic episode.” The doctor blamed depression and the earlier incident at the club for Irawa’s actions.
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