The Opposition says the Iemma Government must ensure Steven DeSouza is not eligible to apply for release from jail after just 12 years of a 16 year sentence for the beating and kicking murder of a young woman.
"The Government should not even consider release for someone, wherever they may end up, if they have done nothing to deal with their crime and behaviour," said Shadow Justice Minister Andrew Humpherson.
"This is a person who brutally murdered a vibrant young woman in a stairwell," said Mr Humpherson.
"How is it there is even talk of him being released four years early if he has done nothing in jail to acknowledge his crimes?.
ReplyDelete"He should be locked up for his maximum sentence or at least until he has completed some type of sex offenders program.
"Too many prisoners are finding themselves eligible for release without having done anything to justify it.
"Newcastle murderer Nigel Boland was such a case just a fortnight ago - Steven DeSouza is the latest example," Mr Humpherson added.
"Releases like these have forced the Government into putting more parole officers on the street.
"The Justice Minister's statement today the government's having to find extra parole officers to "protect the community" is an admission it expects parolees to reoffend and that not enough has been done before they are released.
"If the community needs protecting from parolees through random checks then that is a sure indication that many were not ready to be released into the community," Mr Humpherson added.
"Protecting the community is keeping them in jail if they are not ready to be released.
"The Opposition is not against parole, but we have been saying for many years that not enough is being done with prisoners prior to release to reduce the risk of them returning to jail.
NSW has the highest rate of recidivism in the Australia, with almost half of all released prisoners returning to jail within two years.
"The community ultimately pays for reoffending.
"If more was done inside jails to reduce the risk of reoffending, then we wouldn't need extra parole officers.
Last year the number of prisoners returned to society by the Parole Authority jumped 11%, prisoners who in many cases should not have been foisted on the community for years to come – prisoners such as Boland and now potentially De Souza," Mr Humpherson concluded.