Life imprisonment in Australia

Life imprisonment in Australia is handed down for serious offences including treason, murder, and commercial drug trafficking by the State and Territory Supreme Courts in Australia.

Life imprisonment is mandatory for murder in South Australia, the Northern Territory, and Queensland, aircraft hijacking across Australia under the Civil Aviation Act 1988, and in the remaining states and territories for the murder of a police officer or public official.

In New South Wales, the average prison term for murder is 25 years, despite the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) stating the maximum sentence to be for the remainder of the offender's 'natural life'.

Notable sentences

With non-parole periods

If a non-parole period is fixed, it must be at least 10 years unless exceptional circumstances exist, or 20 years if the prisoner is convicted of the murder of a police officer or other public official.

The longest overall non-parole period is 60 years, being served by Dieter Pfennig (South Australia), who kidnapped and murdered 10-year-old Louise Bell in January 1983, kidnapped and murdered 10-year-old Michael Black in January 1989, and kidnapped and sexually abused a third child in December 1989. [1] As Pfenning would have to live to 103 years of age to serve that term, this means he will, effectively, be incarcerated for the rest of his life.

The longest overall non-parole period for a single murder is 45 years and six months, being served by Michael Barry Fyfe (South Australia), who stabbed fellow inmate Trevor Tilley in the kitchen of Yatala Prison in January 1995 while serving a 17 and a half year sentence for other crimes including attempted murder, attacking fellow inmates and prison staff, escaping lawful custody, dangerous driving causing death and assaulting police.

The longest non-parole period imposed is 37 years, being served by Adam Mikhail and his father Frank (Western Australia) for shooting dead convicted drug dealer Frank La Rosa and his wife Kim in an ambush at their Chittering property in June 2008. [2]

The longest non-parole period imposed for a single murder is 35 years, being served by Melbourne CBD gunman Christopher Wayne Hudson (Victoria).[3]

The longest non-parole period imposed on a woman is 32 years, being served by South Australian Angelika Gavare, who murdered and dismembered pensioner Vonne McGlynn in November 2008 for financial gain,[4] and Victorian Cai Xia Liao, who repeatedly stabbed Mai Mach and her four-year-old grandson Alistair Kwong with gardening shears in a vicious attack.[5]

Without the possibility of parole

In the most extreme cases, the sentencing judge will refuse to fix a non-parole period, which means that the prisoner will spend the rest of their life in prison. In New South Wales, if the prisoner is convicted of the murder of a police officer, they will automatically be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.[6]

Notorious criminals serving at least one sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole include:

There are three women serving life without parole:

  • Cannibalistic husband killer Katherine Knight (New South Wales)
  • Black widow Patricia Byers (Queensland)[7]
  • A second woman from Queensland, who tortured, raped and attempted to kill a 13-year-old girl, but cannot be named for legal reasons.[8]

Serial killer Catherine Birnie (Western Australia) is serving four consecutive life sentences with a non-parole period of 20 years, but due to the requirement that the attorney-general signs off on all parole recommendations from the Prisoners Review Board, it is highly unlikely she will ever be released from prison. Former Attorney-General Jim McGinty openly stated he would not sign off on her release, even if the board recommended it.[9] Despite Birnie not applying for release, the board is required conduct a review of her eligibility every three years, which is continually rejected. A notable Perth barrister, Tom Percy QC, has called for her release, stating that she is harmless and "pure revenge" is keeping her in jail.[10]

Hoddle Street massacre gunman Julian Knight is serving seven consecutive sentences of life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 27 years, as the state of Victoria did not officially have provision for life imprisonment without parole until 1991, and Knight was a young offender, being aged 19 at the time of the murders; due to his age, prosecutors did not make an application to refuse to fix a non-parole period. However, legislation has been passed that ensures he will die in jail, or will only be released if he is infirm and incapacitated.[11] [12]

Northern Territory

Life imprisonment is mandatory for murder.

A murder conviction carries a standard non-parole period of 20 years,[13] but the sentencing judge can fix a non-parole period of between 10 years and 25 years.

There is also provision for the crime of aggravated murder, which applies in cases of premeditated murder, contract killing, multiple/serial murder, murder of a child under the age of 18, murder with a sexual motivation, and the murder of a police officer or public official.

In the case of an aggravated murder conviction, the sentencing judge can either fix a non-parole period of at least 25 years, or in the most extreme case refuse to fix a non-parole period; the latter option means that the prisoner will spend the rest of their life in prison.

There are three prisoners at present serving at least one sentence of life imprisonment without parole in the Northern Territory: double sex killer Martin Leach, psychopath and necrophiliac Andrew Christopher Albury,[14] and serial rapist and pedophile William Gordon Turner.[15]

The longest non-parole period imposed in the Northern Territory is 30 years, being served by Douglas John Edward Crabbe, who deliberately drove his Mack Truck into a motel bar at Uluru, killing five patrons; two parole applications, in 2013 and 2016, have been rejected. The longest non-parole period imposed for a single murder is 28 years, being served by Bradley John Murdoch, who shot dead British backpacker Peter Falconio.

The only woman sentenced to life imprisonment in the Northern Territory under the current laws is Evelyn Namatjira, who stabbed her younger sister Jennifer after an argument during a drinking session and is serving a non-parole period of 15 years.[16]

References

  1. ↑ Louise Bell's killer Dieter Pfenning to serve another 35 years, will almost certainly die behind bars
  2. ↑ Record sentence for Perth couple's killers
  3. ↑ CBD gunman jailed for life with 35 year minimum
  4. ↑ Pensioner killer to serve 32 years
  5. ↑ Ex-lover jailed for life for revenge double murder
  6. ↑ Cop killers will die in jail
  7. ↑ Convicted killer says husband still alive
  8. ↑ Couple to die in jail for depraved sexual torture of schoolgirl
  9. ↑ Spagnolo, Joe (19 May 2007). "Birnie 'will not be freed'". Perth Now. The Sunday Times. AAP. Archived from the original on 16 October 2010.
  10. ↑ Campbell, Kate. "Serial killer Catherine Birnie's fourth bid for parole rejected". PerthNow. NewsCorp. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  11. ↑ New legislation will keep Hoddle St gunman Knight imprisoned for the rest of his life Archived 21 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ↑ High Court rules that Julian Knight, Hoddle Street mass murderer, will die in custody
  13. ↑ Throwing away the key
  14. ↑ The Queen v Albury NTSC 59 2004
  15. ↑ Hell of child sex slave revealed as abuser gets life
  16. ↑ Sister killer's appeal rejected

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