A news story in today's paper recalls memories of a massacre on a Melbourne street way back in 1987. On that day a gunman killed seven people and wounded a futher nineteen - and this became known as " the Hoddle street massacre ".
The gunman was nineteen year old Julian Knight and he was sentenced to life imprisonment - with a minimum of twenty-seven years before becoming eligible for parole - which milestone will be reached in 2014.
Knight is launching a court appeal, claiming that he is the only " lifer " still housed in a maximum security prison, and that because of this he can not be placed in classes to teach " resocialisation " - a prelude to a successful parole bid.
He has been granted the right to make this appeal - but hopefully those tasked with making a decision will proceed with caution !
They would be wise to fully investigate why Knight is still in maximum security ? Parole is not an automatic release when a minimum sentence has been served. The parole board must be satisfied that the prisoner is not likely to reoffend and has a changed attitude of remorse for the crime committed.
Perhaps Knight's attitude is the reason he is still in maximum security - and if this is so then any hope of release should be out of the question - despite the time served.
" Hoddle street " was a horrific crime. We would want to be sure that it could not be repeated by the same offender !
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