Police killer Gordon Marshal asks Supreme Court to help free him from prison after nearly four decades

He killed a cop, escaped prison and threatened to blow up the District Court – now this serial offender is stuck between two authorities as he pleads for parole.

Prison escapee and cop killer Gordon Marshal is escorted into Adelaide Magistrates Court in 2016.

Convicted cop killer and recidivist criminal Gordon Marshal has asked the Supreme Court to intervene in an “impasse’’ preventing his release into the community on parole.

Lawyers acting for Marshal, 55, contend the Parole Board’s requirement he be housed at the low-security Adelaide Pre-Release Centre prior to any parole and the Correctional Services Department’s refusal to do so is blocking his release.

Marshal, who was convicted of murdering Constable Lyncon Williams, is seeking a judicial review of both decisions in a bid to secure his release from prison – where he has been for the majority of the past 38 years.

He has asked the Supreme Court to order the Parole Board to determine his latest application for parole – his sixth – and to quash Correctional Services’ refusal to house him at the APC.

“There does not appear to be any mechanism for resolving such an impasse nor avenue to review this situation,’’ Marshal’s statement of facts, issues and contentions states.

Convicted SA murderer Gordon Vincent Marshal in 1986.

Police officer Lyncon Williams was shot dead by Marshal in 1985 in Blair Athol.

However, a response prepared by Crown law officers states the decisions made by the Parole Board and Correctional Services are “based on different considerations.’’

“The recommendation of the Parole Board that the applicant be placed at the APC does not bind the chief executive …’’ it states.

“The applicant’s contention of an ‘impasse’ is no more than argument regarding the reasonableness of the decision of the Parole Board not to release the applicant of parole.’’

Marshal, who was aged just 17 when he shot Constable Williams, has a shocking history of reoffending that began before he was released on parole for the first time in 1996.

His reoffending includes escaping from custody on several occasions, threats to harm and stab individuals in separate incidents, violence offences, property offences and most recently threatening to blow up the District Court building in Victoria Square.

Marshal shot Constable Williams in 1985 as he and his female partner turned their patrol car into a Blair Athol street to investigate reports of a man armed with a .22 rifle shooting at houses.

Gordon Marshal is handcuffed by police in the grounds of Mannum Primary School in 1995 after his recapture.

He was convicted and initially detained at the Governor’s pleasure, but in 1989 this was commuted to life imprisonment with non-parole period of 12 years when amendment to the Sentencing Act were introduced.

Convicted killer Gordon Benson Marshal.

Marshal first applied for parole in 1995, but while his application was being considered he escaped from Cadell prison and was recaptured.

He was released in June 1996 but jailed days later for again breaching conditions.

After being released in September 1996, he committed more crimes and was jailed for another three years.

In 2004, he was again jailed after being convicted of threatening to stab a passenger service officer who had issued him with a fine for fare evasion.

In July 2016, he was arrested in front of the District Court where he claimed to be armed with explosives.

Several weeks earlier he had failed to return to the Adelaide Pre-Release Centre after a day release.

Marshal made his most recent application for parole in November last year, but this application is yet to be determined.

His application, being heard by Justice Sandi McDonald, case will return to the Supreme Court in June.