NSW Police call for consecutive jail sentences over concurrent ones after Michael Guider released
Child killer and paedophile Michael Guider would have died in jail with another 63 years behind bars if he had served his sentences one after another instead of the easy way — at the same time. Read Attorney-General Mark Speakman’s statement.
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Child killer and paedophile Michael Guider would have died in jail with another 63 years behind bars if he had served his sentences one after another instead of the easy way — at the same time.
His release on Thursday has prompted calls from a terrified public for NSW to follow the US example where abhorrent defendants are given hundreds of years in prison to make the seriousness of the individual sentences clear.
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Instead, Guider, 68, who was sentenced to a total of 86 years and three months for the manslaughter of Samantha Knight and preying on a dozen boys and girls, has served just 23 years in jail.
His is the latest release of a number of notorious killers which has led to victim advocacy groups and the Police Association of NSW calling on soft judges to sentence offenders to consecutive jail terms rather than concurrent.
“Each crime and victim should receive a sentence on its own case, not have a lot of them lumped together,” victims’ advocate Howard Brown said.
Matthew de Gruchy, 41, walked free last month after killing his mother Jennifer, his sister Sarah, 13, and brother Adrian, 15, in 1996.
For each murder he was sentenced to 27 years’ jail to be served concurrently.
“He is out now the same age as his mother when she died, 41. He should have been sentenced to 81 years’ jail,” Mr Brown said.
Guider’s run of luck began in 1996 when he was jailed for 16 years for a series of sex charges involving nine girls and two boys.
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Judge Paul Flannery ordered the individual sentences, which added up to more than 33 years, be served concurrently with the longest sentence of 16 years.
When Guider faced the court again in 2000 for eight sex offences against two other girls, his total sentence added up to 35 years, six months but Judge John O’Reilly ordered they be served at the same time as the earlier offences because “there was little point in increasing the overall term”.
Guider pleaded guilty to the 1986 manslaughter of nine-year-old Samantha Knight in June 2002 after the murder charge was dropped.
Justice James Wood sentenced him to a maximum of 17 years — but instead of ordering the sentence begin at the end of the time he was already serving, the judge said it should start on June 7, 2002, the day he pleaded guilty.
Mr Brown said the seriousness of the crimes was not always reflected under the present sentencing system. He said in cases where someone has been convicted of crimes involving several victims, serving those sentences concurrently often made them feel like their case was less important or the sentence lighter.
Police Association of NSW president Tony King agreed.
“Judges should sentence child sex offenders, acts of violence and attacks on police and emergency services to consecutive jail terms. It’s in their power and they need to use and hand down tougher sentences,’’ Mr King said.
“You shouldn’t get discounts for the fact you have offended multiple times.”
Judges in NSW are given guidelines in which they are told they must take into account the totality of the crimes when sentencing in cases of multiple convictions.
“Where a court sentences an offender for more than one offence, or sentences an offender serving an existing sentence, the aggregate or overall sentence must be ‘just and appropriate’ to the totality of the offending behaviour,” according to the Judicial Commission Sentencing Bench Book.
“The task of the court is to ensure that the overall sentence is neither too harsh nor too lenient. Just as totality is applied to avoid a crushing sentence … it is not to be disregarded for the converse purpose of assessing whether the overall effect of the sentences is sufficient.
“Public confidence in the administration of justice requires the court to avoid any suggestion that what is in effect being offered is some kind of a discount for multiple offending.”
ATTORNEY-GENERAL MARK SPEAKMAN STATEMENT
(On Wednesday night) I received the advice of Crown Advocate Dr David Kell SC and Ms Joanna Davidson on the prospects of a successful appeal from (Tuesday’s) decision by the Supreme Court to refuse my application for a 12 month Continuing Detention Order against Michael Anthony Guider.
Having considered that advice, I have reached the regretful conclusion that such an appeal would fail.
This offender is one of the most despicable individuals to come before our justice system. Whatever disappointment I may feel at (Tuesday’s) outcome is nothing compared with the distress and concern of his many victims and their families.
While the Supreme Court declined to a Continuing Detention Order, it upheld each and every one of the 56 stringent conditions of the Extended Supervision Order I sought in the alternative.
These conditions mean this offender does not ‘walk free’ in the same way law-abiding citizens walk free. From (Thursday) and for at least the next five years, the offender will be monitored electronically 24/7. He will be told where to live, who he can see and where he can and cannot go; will have his internet usage monitored; and must abide by a night-time curfew.
The NSW Government has no higher priority than community safety. If the offender breaches these conditions in any way, the relevant authorities will immediately consider an application to return the offender to custody.
FAT CHANCE A HAIRCUT WILL HELP GUIDER HIDE
Depraved criminal Michael Guider is a grossly overweight loner who gorges on chocolates and has changed his appearance drastically ahead of his release on Thursday, his brother has revealed.
Guider killed Bondi schoolgirl Samantha Knight 33 years ago and abused scores of other children in the 1990s.
Pictures of him are few and far between but his haunting stare and shaggy beard have become instantly recognisable.
However, two months ago, the 68-year-old cut his hair short around his ears and now sports a trimmed beard, brother Tim Guider, who last saw him two months ago, said.
Some jailers refer to the killer as “Piggy” and his weight is known to have at times ballooned to 140kg. Sources said Guider rarely left his cell at Long Bay, refused to exercise and developed a taste for vending machine chocolate paid for by visitors.
“I almost didn’t recognise him, he has cut his hair short, has a neat beard, and is going bald at the front,” Tim Guider said. “He knows people on the outside hate him and will be baying for his blood.
“He is terrified of being recognised and deliberately smartened his appearance when he started getting day release so he can’t be recognised.”
Samantha Knight’s mother, Tess, called for a fresh picture of her daughter’s killer to be released so the public is alerted to Guider’s altered appearance.
“I’m not supporting vigilantism but … people need to know who to be aware of when he’s out again,” she said. “This is now not about punishment but about prevention … He continues to show no remorse.”
— Danielle Gusmaroli
VILE SERIAL PREDATOR IN BID TO EXIT PRISON
A violent rapist involved in an infamous Sydney murder is fighting for release from prison but the family of one victim fears he will attack again.
The NSW government is fighting to keep Wayne Wilmot locked up after he and four others abducted Janine Balding from Sutherland railway station in 1988.
Wilmot, who was 15 at the time, drove Ms Balding’s car while she was raped in the back seat. He remained in the car as the screaming bank worker, 20, was dragged into a dam on the side of a freeway and drowned.
He was handed nine years and four months’ prison for his role in the abduction and sexual assault but his charge for murder was dropped.
After being paroled in late 1996 Wilmot began violently attacking women again. A string of sexual and physical attacks in the less than two years he was free led to him being arrested again in 1998.
Wilmot, now in his 40s, expected to walk out of prison in late June until a last-minute legal bid by the government meant he was detained under a special court order.
“Lock up your wives, lock up your daughters, lock up your sons,” the father of one victim said outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Prosecutors want Wilmot locked up for two years under a Continuing Detention Order but his lawyers are pushing for a five-year supervision order.
But forensic psychologist Kerri Eagle told the court a supervision order might not be able to stop Wilmot committing a “serious sexual offence”.
While in prison Wilmot has been enrolled in sex offender programs but has expressed that “women fantasise about being raped”.
The case continues.
— Perry Duffin