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Australian murderer serving life loses court bid to overturn prison Vegemite ban after claiming it denied him his 'culture'

Andre McKechnie, 54, whose case was dismissed on Monday, argued that Victoria's Supreme Court should overturn the ban because going without Vegemite left him "sad and disconnected" from his culture.
Andre McKechnie, 54, whose case was dismissed on Monday, argued that Victoria's Supreme Court should overturn the ban because going without Vegemite left him "sad and disconnected" from his culture.

Andre McKechnie, 54, told Victoria's Supreme Court that going without the spread left him 'sad and disconnected from my family and community'. Justice Claire Harris dismissed his case on Monday. She ruled that his 'cultural rights are limited primarily by the fact he has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment'. McKechnie is serving life for stabbing property developer Otto Kuhne to death in Queensland in the 1990s.

Prison bosses say inmates could use the paste to hide contraband or brew alcohol.

Corrections Victoria told the court the smell can distract drug sniffer dogs.

Vegemite has been banned in Victorian jails since 2006, and in Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania too.

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