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❓ WA Attorney General provides data on the release of murderers and mentally impaired accused individuals, clarifying the Executive Council's role in these decisions and addressing concerns raised about the 'No Body, No Parole' Bill.

AnsweredQoN 1579Legislative Council

Asked

21 August 2018

Member

Hon Michael Mischin

Portfolio

Attorney General

QuestionView source ↗

I refer to the Attorney General's comments in the Legislative Assembly on 16 August 2017, where he accused the Liberal and National parties of having 'joined forces in the Legislative Council to hinder the passage' of the so-called 'No Body, No Parole' Bill and send it off to a committee, a committee which in due course recommended amendments to which he ultimately agreed, and his repeated accusations that the Liberals and the Nationals 'are giving comfort to murderers!', and I ask: (a) since being appointed Attorney General, how many murderers has the Attorney General released from custody, and who, when, and for what periods of parole or supervised release; (b) which were released in accordance with, and which contrary to, recommendations of the Prisoners' Review Board or Supervised Release Board; (c) since being appointed Attorney General, how many persons detained under the Criminal Law (Mentally Impaired Accused) Act 1996 held on charges of murder or other unlawful killing has the Attorney General released from custody, and who, when and for what periods; (d) which were released in accordance with, and which contrary to, recommendations of the Mentally Impaired Accused Review Board; (e) which of the persons released had killed children; and (f) which of the persons released were released contrary to the desires of the secondary victims or other next-of-kin?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered

20 September 2018

Responded by

Leader of the House representing the Attorney General

Response time

11 days

(a) Pursuant to section 25 of the Sentence Administration Act 2003 (WA) , only the Governor sitting in Executive Council may grant parole to a life sentenced prisoner, not the Attorney General.
However, the following provides the details of each life-sentenced murderer who has been released to parole by order of the Executive Council from 2014 until present:
OFFENDER
Offence
RELEASE ON PAROLE
Parole Duration (Years)
Bender, John Allan
Murder
1/04/2014
5
Venter, Jacob Palmer
Murder
1/04/2014
2
Pitts, Marcus David
Wilful Murder
12/04/2014
3
Colbung, Scott Sheldon
Murder
22/04/2014
2
Walker, Shiralee Jane
Murder
22/04/2014
3
Dutton, Brian Warren
Wilful Murder
6/05/2014
3
Thompson, Christopher Miles
Wilful Murder
6/05/2014
3
Smith, Eric John
Wilful Murder
6/05/2014
3
Fry, Kevin Roy
Wilful Murder
16/06/2014
5
Cooke, Guy John
Wilful Murder
9/09/2014
3
Dowling, Leslie Margaret
Wilful Murder
18/09/2014
2
Seiffert, Jason Andrew
Murder
19/12/2014
3
Buswell, Terry John
Murder
20/04/2015
2
Tiet, Giang
Murder
22/04/2015
3
Smith, Eric John
Wilful Murder
30/04/2015
3
Bishop, Derryn Ruby
Murder
2/07/2015
2
Williams, Wayne John
Wilful Murder
26/07/2015
5
Hall, Evan Leon
Wilful Murder
27/07/2015
3
Salehi, Kamal Ali
Wilful Murder
28/07/2015
2
Axford, Murray Phillip
Wilful Murder
24/08/2015
3
Walley, Peter Dean
Murder
29/10/2015
5
Ogilvie, Aaron Fabien
Murder
16/11/2015
5
Birks, Douglas
Murder
30/12/2015
3
Seel, Kurt Russell
Wilful Murder
30/12/2015
5
Thompsett, Benjamin Stephen
Murder
19/01/2016
3
Aksenov, Corey David Walter
Murder
25/01/2016
3
Cooley, Timothy
Wilful Murder
7/06/2016
5
Campbell, David Gordon
Wilful Murder
13/06/2016
5
Wood, Steven Bradley
Murder
23/08/2016
3
Fuller, Kelly Renae
Murder
22/09/2017
5
Garrett, Robert
Wilful murder
27/11/2017
5
Eastwell, Eric
Wilful murder
25/10/2017
3
Griffin, Mark William
Wilful murder
18/12/2017
5
Krakouer, Jeremy Troy
Murder
4/08/2017
3
Carmona Martinez, Raul
Murder
5/04/2018
2
Alikhani, Mojtaba
Wilful murder
16/04/2018
5
Green, Laurence Angus
1x Murder, 1x wilful murder
21/05/2018
5
Greer, Arthur Boycott
Murder
12/06/2018
2
Data January 2014 - Present
Data prior to 2014 for Life and Indefinite Term prisoners is not electronically available and cannot be readily provided.
(b) All were released in accordance with recommendations of the Prisoners Review Board.
(c)        Pursuant to section 35 of the Criminal Law (Mentally Impaired Accused) Act 1996 (WA), only the Governor sitting in Executive Council may release a mentally impaired accused who has become the subject of a Custody Order made under Parts 3 or 4 of that Act, and not the Attorney General.
However, 11 persons detained by a Custody Order following allegations of dangerous driving causing death, murder or other unlawful killings were released by order of the Executive Council since January 2014. The following provides the requested details of each accused:
Mentally Impaired ACCUSED
Alleged Offence
Date Conditionally or Unconditionally Released From Custody
Duration of Release Order
Accused A
2x Wilful murder
21/06/2017
Indefinite
Accused B
Manslaughter
22/09/2017
Indefinite
Accused C
Manslaughter
25/10/2017
Indefinite
Accused D
Wilful murder
27/11/2017
Indefinite
Accused E
Wilful murder
30/1/2018
Indefinite
Accused F
Dangerous driving causing death
10/05/2016
Indefinite
Accused G
Wilful murder
12/02/2016
Indefinite
Accused H
Wilful murder
5/08/2014
Indefinite
Accused I
Murder
12/08/2014
Indefinite
Accused J
Wilful murder x2
21/01/2015
Indefinite
Accused K
Murder
10/07/2015
Indefinite
Data – January 2014 – Present
Data prior to 2014 is not electronically available and cannot be readily provided.
(e)        All were released pursuant to recommendations of the Mentally Impaired Accused Review Board.
(f)        Two persons, who were released between 1 January 2008 to date via a Conditional Release Order or Unconditional Release Order, allegedly caused the death of children:
Mentally Impaired Accused Review Board
Person Released
Accused B
Accused J
The following persons who were released between 1 January 2014 to date via a Parole Order caused the death of children:
Prisoners Review Board
Person Released
Fuller, Kelly Renae
Greer, Arthur Boycott
Tiet, Giang
Bishop, Derryn Ruby
(f)         The Prisoners Review Board and Mentally Impaired Accused Review Board do not release details derived from submissions made by secondary victims or other next-of-kin.

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