A lawsuit filed by a 55-year-old convict, Andre McKechnie, who is serving a life sentence for murder, seeking to be served Vegemite in prison, has been rejected by the Supreme Court in Victoria, Australia.
Mr McKechnie represented himself in court via a video link from Barwon Prison in western Melbourne on Monday.
The convicted murderer filed the suit last year to challenge the state’s ban on inmates eating the polarising yeast-based spread, insisting that it breached his human rights, CNN reported.
Court documents showed that the convict cited the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act to “enjoy his culture as an Australian in the community with other persons of Australian background”.
Mr McKechnie initially claimed in court that the lack of Vegemite contributed to his thiamine deficiency, adding that Vegemite and pork were sources of thiamine, also known as vitamin B1.
He also told the court that, as a Jew who observed Kosher Law, he could not eat pork and took daily doses of the vitamin.
He, however, dropped the thiamine issue as “not important” after lawyers for the prison authorities objected to his evidence.
He claimed that not eating Vegemite made him feel “deprived of being able to practice my Australian culture, sad and disconnected from my family and community.”
Justice Claire Harris, however, dismissed Mr McKechnie’s arguments and upheld the prison authorities’ decision to deny him access to the salty, sticky, black-brown by-product of brewing beer.
According to the judge, the state’s ban was justified as a measure to prevent illicit drugs and alcohol from entering the prison system.
In a 47-page judgement, the judge said, “The limitation on Mr. McKechnie’s ability to enjoy Vegemite in community with other persons of Australian background is primarily that he is a prisoner.”
The judge explained that “it is difficult to accept that the inability to consume Vegemite, rather than the fact of his imprisonment, is a material cause of his sadness and disconnection from his family and community.”
