Question On Notice No. 1579 asked in the Legislative Council on 21 August 2018 by Hon Michael Mischin
Question Directed to the: Leader of the House representing the Attorney General
Parliament: 40 Session: 1
Question
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?
Answered on 20 September 2018
(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.