‘Let them rot in jail’: Calls to ban euthanasia for rapists, murderers

Corrections staff and victims’ advocates want the option of voluntary assisted dying to be removed for murderers and rapists, saying euthanasia is the ultimate ‘get-out-of-jail-free card’.

Victims’ advocates and corrections staff are pleading with the state government to ban prisoners from accessing voluntary assisted dying laws, claiming the process perverts the course of justice.

Moral warfare has broken out over the issue, with violent criminals and murderers who are serving decades-long sentences behind bars now having access to taxpayer-funded voluntary assisted dying support.

Victims’ advocates say this means they “cheat the justice system from serving out a sentence of their natural life behind bars”.

Corrections officers told The Saturday Telegraph some of their most dangerous inmates had threatened to end their lives and “bypass the justice system” under newly installed voluntary assisted dying laws and policies developed specifically for inmates with terminal illnesses.

It can be revealed that had the Justice Health policy be installed sooner, serial killers including the likes of Ivan Milat and the recently deceased Malcolm George Baker, as well as vile rapist Mustafa Kayirici — dubbed “the devil” by fearful correctional officers — could have made applications to end their lives on their own terms.

Ivan Milat was 74 when he died after a battle with cancer. Picture: Supplied

Victims’ advocate Howard Brown said that, as a result of these new policies, killers were now able to “pervert the course of justice by ending their lives on their own terms, rather than serving our a natural life sentence, as ordered by the courts”.

“Killers never gave their victims any dignity in their death, they destroyed their lives, but Justice Health are facilitating the dignity of a killer when terminally ill,” he said.

Mr Brown said he wasn’t aware of circumstances where the families of victims had been consulted by Justice Health on the development of voluntary assisted dying (VAD) policies.

“Has Justice Health considered people, like Chris Dawson, who has not disclosed the whereabouts of Lynette Dawson’s body before an inmate is approved for assistance in the death?” he said.

“VAD laws should mirror ‘no body, no parole’ laws in our prison systems.”

Frontline Corrective Services NSW officers and Public Service Association delegates have also sounded the alarm over the lack of consultation with the prison system on the assessment of inmates, and their crimes, when requests for assisted dying are made.

Officers at Long Bay jail. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Union representatives said they had raised concerns around the implementation of the VAD policies for prisoners during initial consultation, but were told Corrective Services would be blocked from any involvement in the assessment of applications by inmates.

“Some of the state’s most deadly, violent, vile criminals serving sentences for the rest of their lives have described these new laws as the ultimate get-out-of-jail card,” an officer at Long Bay Correctional Centre said.

“CSNSW have no rights or options to make Justice Health aware of the crimes these people have been sentenced for.

“Once they enter the Justice Health system they are no longer considered killers or rapists, they are patients and have to be referred to as one.”

Reginald Arthurell (right) murdered Venet Raylee Mulhall. Picture: Supplied

PSA delegates said while they were initially consulted on the rollout of voluntary assisted dying behind bars, the association and the department now had no ability to advise Justice Health about the nature of the crimes inmates have been sentenced for.

Justice Health policies rolled out in November declare that “CSNSW has no part to play in the approval process beyond allowing the inmate access to Justice Health medical practitioners and eligible witnesses”.

“No further advice from CSNSW staff may be given”, the policy reads. “The submission of a request for VAD and the approval process is entirely a matter for Justice Health and the VAD Board.”

The brother of a woman murdered at the hands of Reginald Arthurell has revealed he has been diagnosed with an incurable, debilitating disease.

Venet Mulhall’s body was discovered by her brother Paul Quinn at Coonabarabran in February 1995. Six months later, Arthurell was arrested and in 1997 he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 24 years.

“While vile inmates inside our prisons can access voluntary assisted dying, people suffering from the disease I have been diagnosed with, inclusion-body myositis, cannot be supported by the same services,” Mr Quinn, the author of In The Hands Of Evil, said.

He said it was outrageous criminals were able to apply for voluntary assisted dying, “but people like me cannot … convicted criminals are being given far too many privileges when it comes to health services, they should be forced to rot in prison – not given a pain-free, easy way out”.

Victims’ advocate Howard Brown. Picture: David Swift

A senior CSNSW figure said victim’s families “would be disgusted to know the gold class (health) treatment given to violent criminals”.

“These disgusting criminals are provided the best, most comprehensive service imaginable when they enter the health system,” he said.

Officers with knowledge of the final days of Kayirici’s life said he “taunted” them, telling correctional and Justice Health staff he was “escaping his prison sentence and would be taken to paradise”.

Meanwhile, another senior representative said “high-care NDIS recipients and terminally ill patients in the general public don’t benefit from the same level of support and care that inmates are granted”.

“Victims’ families would be … heartbroken to know the level of treatment they are given, all on the taxpayer.”

A Justice Health spokesman said the agency was “committed to providing high-quality, safe and compassionate health care … this includes end-of-life care, such as voluntary assisted dying.

“The person must have a disease, illness, or medical condition that is expected to cause their death within six months. They must also be experiencing suffering that can’t be relieved in a way that is acceptable to them.”

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