Martin Churchill: Grim end of Bassam Hamzy’s high-profile lawyer as he dies destitute, living off Centrelink and in excruciating pain

A lawyer accused of helping Supermax inmate Bassam Hamzy run a drug ring from his prison cell has died penniless in a Sydney nursing home.

The 67-year-old is said to have made bad financial investments in Russia, leaving him penniless, and arrangements for his funeral were postponed.

He was on an experimental course of medication since his original cancer treatment stopped working several months ago and was taking heavy painkillers.

Described by associates as ‘clever and eccentric’, Churchill maintained his innocence to the end, occasionally railing against the NSW Police and the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions.

Churchill was arrested in July 2019 and charged with abusing his attorney-client relationship with Hamzy through encrypted three-way phone calls to Australia’s most secure prison.

The High Risk Management Correctional Center, known as Supermax, is located in the Goulburn prison complex, 200 kilometers southwest of Sydney, and houses some of the state’s most dangerous inmates.

Police alleged that Churchill and Hamzy used terms such as “legal fees” to mean an ounce of methylamphetamine and “pay the lawyer” to mean handing over drugs to a supplier.

Churchill was charged with participating in the commercial supply of a prohibited drug and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime.

Churchill was arrested in July 2019 and charged with abusing his attorney-client relationship with Bassam Hamzy (above) by making encrypted three-way phone calls to Australia’s most secure prison.

He was further charged with hindering the apprehension of a person who had committed a serious criminal offense and with stalking/intimidation with intent to cause fear of bodily harm.

The drug charges related to 452.8 grams of meth allegedly delivered between October 2017 and February 2018.

When Churchill first appeared in Newtown Local Court, he represented himself and did not apply for bail. Magistrate Glenn Bartley advised him to hire a lawyer.

Hamzy was charged with commercially supplying a prohibited drug, hindering the apprehension of a person who had committed a serious offense and dealing with the proceeds of crime.

He has maintained that his prison phone conversations with Churchill were legal discussions in which he referred to legitimate business and personal interests.

The High Risk Management Correctional Centre, known as Supermax, is located 200 kilometers south-west of Sydney and houses the state’s most dangerous inmates. A Supermax cell is shown

Churchill and Hamzy both pleaded not guilty and were due to appear before the jury together in August 2021, but their trial was postponed due to factors including Covid-19.

Their trial was postponed again in January 2022 when lawyers acting for Churchill said 20 pages of his handwritten instructions were illegible.

The hearing was completed in court in May 2022, despite Churchill having been in hospital and suffering from a series of illnesses.

Churchill was given a permanent stay of proceedings in August that year after he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, in which cancerous plasma cells build up in the bone marrow.

Three of the charges were the subject of a stay order, while the stalking charge was dropped.

After serving three years on remand, Churchill was released from prison and spent his final days as a patient at an aged care facility in Sydney’s south-eastern suburbs.

Churchill told friends in October that the chemotherapy that had kept him alive for the past 18 months was no longer working. It is believed he died on December 19.

Churchill, described by associates as ‘bright and eccentric’, maintained his innocence to the end and railed against NSW Police and the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions.

Churchill had worked in the legal system since 1976, first for the departments of the Federal Attorney General and the NSW Attorney General, before founding his own firm, Churchill Lawyers.

He was an avid sports fan, a fan of popular music from the 1960s and 1970s, and a student of military history and international politics.

A former professional associate said Churchill had lost money on failed real estate investments in Russia, a country whose language he spoke and which he had visited.

Churchill had once represented Sydney drug importer and big wave surfer Shayne Hatfield, who was found dead in his cell at Parklea prison last Friday.

Hatfield was released from prison in December 2022 after serving 18 years for a $30 million cocaine smuggling operation using baggage handlers at Sydney airport.

Police believe the 59-year-old, who was refused bail late last year after being accused of assaulting his girlfriend, had committed suicide.

Hamzy will appear in court in April.