Double murderer Terry Donai’s bid to be sent to a women’s prison nixed after 18-month review
An 18-month review into a double murderer’s appeal to be placed in a women’s prison after applying to be identified as female came to an abrupt end after the Telegraph’s inquiries – here’s how.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Acting Premier Ryan Park was forced to step in and put the nail in the coffin of a controversial application from a double murderer to be transferred to a women’s prison, amid ongoing hormone replacement therapy, ordering the state’s prison boss to reject the request.
The Daily Telegraph revealed on Wednesday that convicted killer Terry Mark Donai, who now identifies as female and has adopted the name McKenzie, made an application to Corrective Services NSW in 2023 to be transferred into a women’s prison, with the submission languishing in an extensive review for more than 18 months.
The application has been under ongoing scrutiny by senior representatives of CSNSW since it was submitted, with inquiries raised by the NSW Ombudsman regarding the lengthy assessment process for the government department.
However, Acting NSW Premier Ryan Park told this masthead the proposed transfer “won’t be happening” after the revelations of the application were revealed by The Daily Telegraph.
“This individual is convicted of murdering a woman,” Mr Park said.
“I don’t find it acceptable, and I don’t think the community would find it acceptable.
“It won’t be happening.”
Acting Corrections Minister Jihad Dib doubled down in a statement, declaring that all transgender inmates are currently accommodated in facilities “corresponding to their sex assigned at birth”.
“To be very clear – there are no transgender inmates housed in a Correctional Centre of the opposite sex they were assigned at birth,” he said. “We are not running the risk of an inmate ... nominating a change of gender and then trying to enter a woman’s prison.”
Donai is serving more than four decades behind bars after suffocating friend David Weightman’s adopted parents in a gruesome attack in Glen Alpine, before staging a fatal car accident to cover up the double murder.
The couple’s bodies were found in their car rolled down an embankment in the Royal National Park.
Several years after their death, their son admitted he had drugged his parents before Donai suffocated them.
Government sources raised concern over the first-of-its-kind assessment required for the transfer application, citing the fact that Donai had not undergone gender reassignment surgery.
Meanwhile, corrections sources questioned the department’s delayed handling of the application, claiming revelations of the request being made public “were the only reason this issue has been put to bed”.
“There were serious fears of optics around the department refusing an application of this nature,” the source said. “There was a hope that this issue would go away, but now there is public scrutiny.”
The refusal of the drawn-out application comes as it can be revealed that there are 50 inmates inside the state’s prison system who identify as transgender, with several receiving taxpayer-funded hormone replacement drugs.
A government spokesman said, “not all transgender inmates in NSW prisons are receiving or have received hormone treatment”.
“Access to treatment is assessed on a case-by-case basis,” he said.
It is understood that the department will formally hand down a decision on the matter within days.
Do you have a story for The Daily Telegraph? Message 0481 056 618 or email tips@dailytelegraph.com.au
Multimillionaire haircare founder accused of assaulting ex
A luxury car hire dealer who was allegedly too cosy with a senior Alameddine has been hit with a firearm order, while a wealthy businesswoman is in strife with the law. Read The Snitch.
Pedestrian fighting for life after being hit by car
A man has been rushed to hospital with critical injuries after he was hit by a car in Sydney’s south.