Criminals want Garland to go free

A KILLER who butchered his newborn daughter and a man who bludgeoned a woman to death have stepped in to vouch for one of Australia's worst sexual predators.

Raymond Garland, now 42, is undergoing a review of four indefinite sentences.

A KILLER who butchered his newborn daughter and a man who bludgeoned a woman to death have stepped in to vouch for one of Australia's worst sexual predators.

The men, who are serving life sentences for murder, testified via video link from Wolston Correctional Centre on Raymond Henry Garland's behalf during a review of the sex fiend's four indefinite sentences in Brisbane District Court.

Raymond Akhtar Ali, a halal butcher who dissected his newborn daughter moments after her birth so his wife would not find out about his infidelity, said he could not "see any harm" in Garland being released.

The 59-year-old described Garland as "a real gentleman" with whom he used to share study sessions.

"He's very remorseful... of things he has done in the past," he said.

"He would like to get out one day and live the life of a normal person. I don't see any harm in that."

Also vouching for Garland was Oliver Alincic, 46, among several convicted murderers who escaped through a cell window at Brisbane's Sir David Longland Correctional Centre with "Postcard Bandit" and infamous bank robber Brendan Abbott.

Alincic, an habitual thief who murdered Sandra Mackay in 1987 while trying to rob a newsagency safe at Morayfield, fled to Nimbin in northern NSW where he lived out of a car for four days before police caught him.

He said he was happy to vouch for Garland.

"We all have friends that don't do the right thing all the time, maybe not as severe as Mr Garland and myself, but nevertheless they're there and we all try to become better people and help those around us.

"We've often expressed our remorse and if it wasn't for our lives, things could have been better."

Garland is unlikely to ever be released, but the court must periodically review indefinite sentences.

During questioning by prosecutor Sarah Farnden, Garland denied he had engaged in roleplay coercive sex with other prisoners, asking them to pretend he was raping them.

Ms Farnden suggested he told the officer, who was assessing him for a sexual offender rehabilitation program, he did not need "a safety word" while acting out his rape roleplays because "he knew how to stop".

She said the officer had also reported Garland was having sex two to three times a week with other prisoners, against the rules.

Garland admitted he was having "inappropriate fantasies" about rape twice a week.

OFFENCES

Raymond Henry Garland is a serial sex offender serving four indefinite jail terms for sex attacks in Brisbane and Mackay.

He began offending at 14 and has spent most of his life behind bars.

Garland raped and sodomised a 14-year-old girl in 1985, sodomised two teenage boys, aged 14 and  15, in 1987 and held a group of people hostage in South Mackay in 1997.

He raped a five-months pregnant woman and sodomised a 16-year-old boy during the nine-hour siege.

Originally published as Criminals want Garland to go free