Family murderer Ljube Velevski has Child Protection Register breach chucked out

The Illawarra man who murdered his wife and three kids nearly 30 years ago has avoided further incarceration after a breach charge was dismissed.

Ljube Velevski outside Wollongong Police Station in July, 2022. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

One of the Illawarra’s most notorious family killers has walked free from court after a child protection order breach charge was thrown out.

Ljube Velevski served the maximum sentence of 25 years behind bars for the horrific murders of his wife, Snezana, their six-year-old daughter Zaklina and three-month-old twins Daniela and Dijana inside their family home in the Illawarra suburb of Berkeley.

The now 58-year-old was released from Junee Correctional Centre in July, last year, however he did not sign on to the Child Protection Register within seven days of his release.

A warrant was issued for Velevski’s arrest and 19 hours after he was due to report, he handed himself into Lake Illawarra Command where he was charged with failing to comply with his reporting obligations under the Child Protection Register.

The Macedonian national contested the charge in Wollongong Local Court earlier this month, submitting he did not understand what the document was about.

Magistrate Gabriel Fleming found Velevski not guilty and dismissed the matter on Tuesday, accepting he would have struggled to understand the document which had “small and dense text” with “legalistic language” which would have made it “difficult to understand even with English as a first language”.

During the hearing, the court heard from Junee Correctional Centre manager of operations, Amanda Hyder, who was the last person the “high-profile inmate” dealt with.

Ljube Velevski leaving Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday. Picture: Dylan Arvela

She told the court Velevski became “irate” when she asked him to sign the ‘Form 3’ which enters one onto the Child Protection Register.

Ms Hyder said Velevski began yelling at her his charges “weren’t child related” and refused to sign the form.

After entering the witness box, a softly spoken Velevski said – through the occasional assistance of an interpreter – he was confused between the words “protection” and “support”.

“I said my wife killed my children, I do not need to pay for child support,” he said.

“I do not need to sign that.

“Protection for me means support, it is the same word. [It means] Supporting the family when they are not with you.”

Velevski told the court the document was explained to him and he “wouldn't risk 25 years” behind bars if he had known.

He said it took “five to six years” in jail before he began to grasp English and that he had applied for a passport and his learner driver’s licence since his release.

Ljube Velevski leaving St James Court in 1997.

Ms Fleming described it as a “serious offence” when handing down her decision, however, she sided with Velevski who gave “detailed and clear” evidence.

“I find it implausible that after 25 years in custody he would risk further incarceration,” the magistrate said.

“This is reinforced by him presenting as soon as he heard about the warrant for his arrest and I accept he expressed shock and remorse at his failure to report from the outset.”

Ms Fleming told the court there was a “fundamental misunderstanding” of the form he was obligated to sign and said various constraints made it difficult for Ms Hyder to manage the situation.

The magistrate said Velevski should have had an interpreter arranged and for the form to be “gone through” with him.