Parole dates of convicted Queensland criminals revealed
Some of the state’s jailed criminals will be released into the community in 2023 while others will be kept locked up. Here is our guide for upcoming parole release and eligibility dates for Queenslanders behind bars.
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Wife murderers, child molesters, sadistic rapists, cop killers and drug peddlers, their crimes sent chills throughout the state.
From the infamous Brett Peter Cowan, who brutally murdered schoolboy Daniel Morcombe to Lindy Williams who hacked up her partner with a Bunnings saw to bikie enforcer Lionel Patea, we take a look at some of the criminals behind bars in Queensland and when they are expected to be out on parole.
Some on this list have been kept behind bars for failing to meet the strict requirements under the state’s No Body, No Parole laws introduced in August 2017, barring prisoners’ freedom if they fail to co-operate with police to identify a victim’s location.
Others have been sentenced to jail and are awaiting their parole release date.
When sentencing an offender, a court can set a parole release date or parole eligibility date, the latter requiring the prisoner to make an application for parole determined by the Parole Board Queensland.
Here is our guide to those who are locked up in Queensland prisons and when they are likely to be released.
BRANDON JOHN SERAFIN-GRAY
PAROLE RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 23, 2023
A young football player, who had prospects of playing with the Brisbane Lions, has been given a parole release date of January 23, 2023.
Brandon John Serafin-Gray pleaded guilty in Bundaberg Magistrates Court in September 2022 to one count of deprivation of liberty, three counts of going armed to cause fear, two counts of threats of violence, one count of common assault and one count of unlawful entry of a vehicle.
His actions were so terrifying, Police Prosecutor Sergeant Dean Burgess said that in 15 years “this is one of the worst – if not the worst – case I have dealt with in magistrates court”.
Serafin-Gray headed to Bundaberg where he unleashed on the public while high on oxycodone.
The terrifying incidents on April 23, 2022, involved attacks on two teenagers and a woman in the early hours of the morning, while it was still dark.
The court heard the 29-year-old, who appeared from custody via videolink, had chased two teenagers, asking a 16-year-old girl if she was his sister before threatening her with a knife as she was forced to walk with him.
The girl and boy flagged down a passing ambulance for help. Hours later, a woman employed to collect Neuron e-scooters had been by an open van when Serafin-Gray slid a knife down the back of her leg.
Serafin-Gray got in the passenger seat of the woman’s van, causing her to flee and call police.
Magistrate John McInnes sentenced him to a head prison term of two years and six months, with a nine-month non-parole period.
PHILLIP JOHN HASKINS
ELIGIBLE: JANUARY 27, 2023
A lively Charters Towers drug dealer who realised the jig was up when police came knocking on his door and jumped out a window to escape will be eligible to apply for parole on January 27, 2023.
Phillip John Haskins walked on the right side of the law for all but three months after he was released on parole for drug trafficking in 2019 before he took up the nefarious enterprise again.
He appeared before Justice David North in Townsville Supreme Court in August after spending 952 days on remand, and pleaded guilty to multiple counts of supplying dangerous drugs as well as trafficking dangerous drugs.
Crown Prosecutor Shannon Sutherland said Haskins had been handed a five-year sentence for a 12-month drug trafficking stint in 2019, and that his drug offending history stretched back to 1993.
The sentence was set to expire in mid August, with the court hearing Haskins had served four-and-a-half years of that order.
Justice North said Haskins faced a “real risk” of returning to drug offending with his history of recidivism and sentenced him to 3.5 years’ jail with a parole eligibility date set for January 27, 2023.
PRESTON DONALD QUAKAWOOT
ELIGIBLE TO APPLY: January 27, 2023
LAYNE REX NEWMAN
ELIGIBLE TO APPLY: January 29, 2023
LES NOEL NOBLE
ELIGIBLE TO APPLY: September 30, 2023
Three escaped prisoners punished after fleeing from Townsville Correctional Centre farm will be eligible for parole in 2023.
The prisoners, who escaped from Townsville Correctional Centre’s low-security farm in June, 2022, stole a car and alcohol during a break-in at the Anelay Hotel, a prominent Townsville pub.
A manhunt was launched by police and corrective services officers after Layne Rex Newman, 19, Les Noel Noble, 22, and Preston Donald Zane Quakawoot, 22, absconded the Stuart facility between on June 27.
Police prosecutor Lisa Plessius said the escape was planned by Les Noel Noble, who had phoned his girlfriend and another associate to organise for a vehicle to pick him up from the Stuart Landfill, with the other two men joining the escape.
Noble pleaded guilty to escape from lawful custody, entering premises and committing an indictable offence by break, obstruct police, unlawful use of motor vehicle, and two counts of stealing.
Newman pleaded guilty to escape from lawful custody, unlawful use of a motor vehicle, enter premises and commit indictable offence by break.
Quakawoot pleaded guilty to escape from lawful custody, possessing dangerous drugs and possessing anything for use in the commission of crime.
Noble had two years and nine months imprisonment added to his jail time, with a parole eligibility date set for September 30, 2023.
Newman had two years and three months imprisonment added to his time behind bars, and will be eligible for parole on January 29, 2023.
Quakawoot received an additional nine months imprisonment, with a parole eligibility date set for January 27, 2023.
STEVEN TREVOR DALEY
ELIGIBILITY: FEBRUARY 2, 2023
A man who inflicted a “night of terror” and “senseless violence” usually seen in movies or video games like Grand Theft Auto will be eligible for parole on February 2, 2023.
Steven Trevor Daley along with James Piripono Hurinui and two others stormed the Miami Shore Hotel on November 28, 2020 and attacked a hotel manager with no real motive.
Daley, 31, and Hurinui, 47, pleaded guilty in the Southport District Court in January to kidnapping, robbery and assault occasioning bodily harm.
While at the hotel, Daley beat the manager in the head before bundling him into a unit.
Daley punched the manager twice “splattering blood on the bathroom wall” before the group ransacked the room and took his wallet.
Daley threatened the manager with a hammer before they forced him into a car.
The group made the manager hand over his ATM card which they used to transfer money. They also made him use his phone to transfer money into their bank accounts.
The entire ordeal lasted for about three hours and the hotel manager was released in Auchenflower in Brisbane, about 93km away. The victim was left with a fractured jaw and other cuts and bruises.
Judge Geraldine Dann sentenced Daley to four years’ prison with parole eligibility on February 2, 2023. She sentenced Hurinui, who had spent 215 days in prison, to three years nine months prison to be suspended after he served 12 months.
MOHAMMED UMAR DEEN
PAROLE RELEASE: FEBRUARY 6, 2023
Three brothers from Brisbane’s prominent Deen family launched an appeal in August for release after they were jailed for a violent attack on their cousin.
Mohammed Umar Deen, 41, and twin brothers Imran Aziz Deen, 30 and Zain Fazal Deen, 30, were jailed in June for assaulting their cousin Mohammed “Freddie” Deen amid a familial dispute.
The three brothers were found guilty of assaulting their cousin and were sentenced to varying terms of imprisonment after a week-long trial in the Brisbane District Court in June, 2022.
The four men belong to the well-known Deen family, who were involved in the legal but divisive demolition of sites including Cloudland and the Bellevue Hotel.
The three brothers disputed Freddie’s account.
They alleged Freddie threw the first punch at Mohammed Deen and the pair had a scuffle.
But Freddie gave evidence he had been set upon by the three brothers at an Archerfield industrial estate, saying the trio repeatedly kicked him, struck him with bats and smashed a truck door against his head and body.
At a hearing in the Court of Appeal in August, defence barrister Saul Holt QC argued the verdict had been “unreasonable” and that Freddie’s injuries did not reflect his account of the attack, such that the court could have reasonable doubt.
Umar Deen was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with parole release on February 6, 2023 after serving eight months behind bars.
Imran Deen was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment with parole release on October 6.
Zain Deen was jailed for two years with parole release on November 6 after he served five months in prison.
The Court of Appeal, composed of Justices Philip Morrison, John Bond and Philip McMurdo, reserved its decision in relation to
In sentencing the three brothers in June, Judge Leanne Clare said the men went to the attack intending to teach their cousin a lesson. She found none of them had demonstrated remorse for the violence.
TYSON KRISTOFER GUDMANN
PAROLE ELIGIBILITY: APRIL 27, 2023
A young father who struck a woman with his car, sending her flying through a garden bed, and then told police his vehicle had been stolen, will be eligible to apply for parole after April.
Tyson Kristofer Gudmann, 24, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment with a parole eligibility date of April 27, 2023, after he pleaded guilty to seven offences.
They included acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm, after he pursued a woman who fled her house on foot and struck her with his Commodore in 2021.
Gladstone District Court Judge Michael Williamson QC sentenced Gudmann in June 2022 to four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment with parole eligibility set at 18 months, and disqualified him from obtaining a driver’s licence for two years.
Crown prosecutor Elizabeth Kelso told the court that on October 28, 2021, a woman known to Gudmann woke to find him in her bed, prompting her to collect her belongings quietly and leave the house.
Gudmann then called out to her from the driveway, asking about her travels and she replied that she was “going to court”. The defendant then grabbed his car keys and followed after the woman, who was on foot, in his Holden Commodore.
The court heard Gudmann accelerated towards her, forcing her to seek cover behind a tree, however, she was struck by the car and thrown through a garden bed.
Judge Williamson declared 231 days of pre-sentence custody as time served.
CHARLIE MARK ADAMS
ELIGIBLE FOR PAROLE: MAY 2, 2023
Toowoomba man Charlie Mark Adams, who pleaded guilty to attempted knifepoint robbery and beating a staff member of a retirement village, will be eligible for parole on May 2, 2023 after 287 days of pre-sentence custody.
Adams was jailed for five years in June 2021 after Toowoomba District Court was told the father-of-three swung a plank of wood at the occupants of a Rockville home, who had accused the then 25-year-old of looking through their window.
Adams then went to the nearby Northridge Haven Retirement Village and forced his way into the unit of a 79-year-old woman and 80-year-old man.
Cutting a hole in a flyscreen window, Adams gained entry to a room where a nursing assistant was and he first threatened her with a knife before assaulting her, slamming her head against a wall and kicking her while she was unconscious.
Adams pleaded guilty to threatening violence, enter dwelling with intent by break, enter premises with intent and attempted robbery with actual violence while armed.
LEVI JAMES WILSHIRE
ELIGIBLE FOR PAROLE: JUNE 18, 2023
Lockyer Valley man Levi James Wilshire, who raped a 12-year-old girl three times in two days while also indecently treating her, will be eligible for parole on June 18, 2023.
The Gatton man had pleaded guilty to three counts of rape and one count of indecent treatment of a child under the age of 16, and was sentenced in Ipswich District Court.
The court heard the first two rapes were committed on April 2, 2020, while the third rape and the indecent treatment occurred two days later, all four occurring at Gatton.
The first group of offending involved orally and vaginally raping the girl, telling her, “You have a sexy body”, the court heard.
The second group involved Wilshire shining a torch on his penis in front of the girl and retracting his foreskin repeatedly, telling her, “This is what a d--k looks like in the daytime”. He then vaginally raped her.
Crown prosecutor Hamish McIntyre told the court the girl told him to stop and tried to push him off her.
Defence counsel Stephen Kissick told the court his client was homeless at the time of offending and was addicted to cannabis with sporadic methamphetamine use.
He described Wilshire’s offending as “thoughtless and impulsive” and noted this was the first time he had been in jail.
Judge Orazio Rinaudo sentenced Wilshire to eight years’ jail.
MASON JOHN STEVENS
ELIGIBLE FOR PAROLE: MAY 13, 2023
JOEL ANTHONY ZUTT
SEPTEMBER 13, 2023
Cairns cousins Joel Anthony Zutt and Mason John Stephens, who were both sentenced for cocaine trafficking, will be eligible for parole in 2023.
The bumbling pair of first-time cocaine traffickers came to the attention of police after they separately phoned the Bungalow Post Office inquiring after one of their missing drug shipments.
In April 2021, Australian Border Force officials seized two parcels destined for Zutt’s address under a fake name at the Bungalow Post Office and alerted police after it was discovered one parcel contained two ounces of cocaine and the other contained half an ounce of cocaine, LSD, and a separate gram of cocaine.
Cairns Supreme Court heard both Stephens and Zutt made calls to the post office in relation to the missing package, leading police officers with search warrants to their respective front doors shortly thereafter. Stephens, 21, pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine and MDA in the Cairns Supreme Court in August.
Taking into account Stephens’ youth, lack of criminal history, early plea of guilty, rehabilitative inroads, and letter to the court acknowledging his responsibility and regret, Justice Jim Henry sentenced him to four years’ imprisonment, with a parole eligibility date after nine months.
Taking into account Zutt’s previous cannabis-related offending, Justice Henry sentenced him to four years’ imprisonment with parole eligibility after a year.
JAMIE LEE ROBERTS
PAROLE ELIGIBILITY: JULY 25, 2023
The temptation to escape from prison backfired on Jamie Lee Roberts who was sentenced to two years’ jail with parole eligibility set at July 25, 2023 after he used a car left running by a prison guard.
Roberts, 28, was accompanied by officers when he appeared in Townsville Magistrates Court in July for his sentencing over his March 6, 2022 escape from the Townsville Correctional Centre, a low-security prison farm.
He pleaded guilty to escape by persons in lawful custody, two counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle and a single count of wilful damage.
Magistrate Ross Mack was shocked that a guard would leave a car running and unattended.
Prosecutor Nathan Smith told the court that the guard had parked in front of an admin office on site, and parked the car with the keys in the ignition before leaving the vehicle and chatting with Roberts who was standing nearby.
It was when the guard walked away that Roberts jumped in the car and drove away.
“What, so he drives up, in a car, engine still running and keys in it – and chats to the fella doing four and a half years for burglary, leaves the key in the car and goes into another place?” Mr Mack said.
An hour later, Roberts stole another vehicle from Railway Estate.
Five days later, on March 11, Roberts stole a car from a Jensen property at 10pm, but he didn’t get very far. After ramming a set of gates to get out, he crashed the stolen car into a tree 30m from the gate.
Roberts was jammed inside the car when the owner of the car arrived, armed with a pipe, before police arrived.
DESMOND RAY BURNS
PAROLE ELIGIBILITY JULY 31, 2023
Desmond Ray Burns will be eligible to apply for parole in 2023 after he was jailed for an attack on a man and throwing boiling water on him.
Desmond along with his brother Mark Edmond Burns and their nephew Lucas Noel Burns broke into the home of one of Desmond and Mark’s nephews on November 12, 2021, believing he had Desmond’s mobile phone.
The 29-year-old victim woke up to find Desmond, aged 38, Mark, 44 and Lucas, 27, standing in his hallway, with Desmond in front.
Desmond threw a flask of boiling water at the man, who later described the pain as “terrible”. The victim suffered burns covering 25 per cent of his body but that wasn’t the end of the attack.
Mackay District Court heard Desmond pinned the man to the ground, at which point Lucas stepped in and repeatedly punched the man in the face.
Desmond, Mark and Lucas appeared in court on September 30, 2022 before Judge Gregory Lynham and pleaded guilty to the shocking acts of burglary and assault.
Mark and Lucas were remanded in custody while Desmond was granted bail.
The court heard the Mackay-based Burnses all had criminal histories.
Lucas was on parole at the time he participated in the home invasion.
Desmond was sentenced to three years for burglary, 2.5 years for assault occasioning bodily harm while armed and two years for assault in company with another person.
All terms were ordered to be served concurrently. His parole release date was set for July 31, 2023.
Mark was sentenced to two years and eight months for burglary, two years for assault occasioning bodily harm and 18 months for assault in company with another person.
His parole release date was September 30, 2022.
Lucas was sentenced to two years and nine months for burglary and two years for assault occasioning bodily harm in company with another person. His parole eligibility date was September 30, 2022.
RICHARD ALAN HARVEY
PAROLE ELIGIBILITY: SEPTEMBER 3, 2023
Richard Alan Harvey, who shot a man while trying to steal a car at a Mackay hotel drive-through, will be eligible to apply for parole in September 2023.
Harvey pleaded guilty to attempted armed robbery, assault occasioning bodily harm while armed and possession of a knife in a public place, in Mackay District Court in November 2022.
Nicholas Amos, 35, was shot through the stomach when he intervened as an extremely drunk Harvey tried to steal another man’s car at the drive-through bottle shop at O’Shea’s Hotel Motel.
The dramatic incident occurred about 7.30pm on September 4, 2021 outside the Walkerston pub. Mr Amos had been sitting in the main bar at O’Shea’s when he heard loud bangs, yelling and screaming and ran outside to help.
Two men – Harvey and carjacking victim Warren Porter – were wrestling on the ground and when he tried to pull them apart Mr Amos suffered a gunshot wound that went right through his stomach.
Judge John Coker jailed Harvey for seven years with parole eligibility after two years.
Because he had already spent 425 days in pre-sentence custody, declared as time already served, Harvey will be able to apply for parole on September 3, 2023.
PAUL JOHN VELLA
ELIGIBLE FOR PAROLE: SEPTEMBER 2023
A middle-aged ice kingpin who served jail time for setting up a clandestine ice lab with parallels to cult TV show Breaking Bad, will not be out of jail before September next year.
Paul John Vella, 51, formerly from the Gold Coast and now a fabricator from Sydney’s western suburbs, was ordered back behind bars for trafficking $3.4m worth of ice into Queensland when he appeared in the Supreme Court in Brisbane in February.
Crown Prosecutor Caroline Marco told Justice Glenn Martin phone intercepts captured Vella discussing using a weapon to recoup debts with one of his lieutenants.
Ms Marco said Vella ran a business for 10 months, between December 2013 until October 2014, sourcing at least 12kg of the drug ice in Sydney and arranging for drug mules to smuggle it by car into Queensland in seven trips, where Vella on-sold it to other lower-ranking drug pushers.
While police were unable to calculate how much profit Vella made from ice trafficking, Ms Marco said the amount of cash was believed to be substantial as phone taps revealed Vella and his mates owed an unnamed Sydney drug tsar $700,000.
In March 2017, Vella was sentenced in a Sydney court to six years prison with a non-parole period of four years after he was convicted of manufacturing ice.
Within days of his release in 2019, Queensland Police charged him with trafficking the ice into Queensland.
In court in February, Justice Martin sentenced Vella to four years’ prison, suspended after serving 18 months, for an operational period of four years.
ROBERT NORMAN KELLY
RELEASE: OCTOBER 4, 2023
Robert Norman Kelly, who was jailed for two years and 10 months in May 2022 after he was found guilty of breaking into a 75-year-old neighbour’s home and bashing him, is likely to be released in October 2023.
Kelly pleaded not guilty to charges of burglary and serious assault of a person over 60 at Toowoomba District Court.
He tried to claim his de facto partner Carissa Campbell had assaulted the victim, William Blake. She also gave evidence at the trial that it had been her.
However, Crown prosecutor Emily Coley said the jury by its verdict had “clearly rejected” that version of events.
Judge Katherine McGuinness sentenced Kelly to two years and 10 months in jail but ordered he be released on parole as of October 4, 2023, after he had served 17 months.
KARLAMIA MOORE
PAROLE ELIGIBILITY: DECEMBER 16, 2023
Part-time Ipswich resident Karlamia Moore is eligible to apply for parole in December 2023, after she and Jacob Neil Johnston pleaded guilty in December 2021 to fraudulently obtaining $715,000 from banks while working with a “sophisticated criminal syndicate”.
Brisbane District Court heard the pair unlawfully obtained identification information for a number of people and applied for loans from eight banks where they successfully gained the $700,000, and attempted to obtain a further $99,000.
The Spring Mountain couple pleaded guilty to a number of crimes including, fraud greater than $100,000, money laundering, obtaining identification fraudulently, and other offences.
Johnston was sentenced to nine-and-a-half years’ imprisonment, with immediate parole eligibility, taking into account the 918 days he had already served.
Moore was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years and her parole eligibility was set at December 16, 2023.
ISAACE NATHANIEL LLOYDE BARLOW
PAROLE ELIGIBILITY: 2023
Isaace Nathaniel Lloyde Barlow, who was jailed for manslaughter after punching and kicking Christine Fourmile, who died of her injuries, will be eligible to apply for parole in 2023.
Barlow was found not guilty of murder but jailed for nine-and-a-half years for manslaughter in 2017. Ms Fourmile died in hospital the day after the 2014 assault with a medical expert telling the court a major head injury was the primary cause.
Justice Jim Henry said Barlow’s criminal history was “atrocious” and declared him a serious violent offender, meaning he must serve at least 80 per cent of his sentence before being eligible for parole. Queensland Corrections confirmed Barlow remained in custody.
RODNEY MICHAEL CHERRY
POSSIBLE RELEASE DATE: 2023
Double murderer Rodney Michael Cherry, who was jailed for killing his wife and stepdaughter in rural Queensland, is considered a “No Body, No Parole” prisoner.
Cherry was convicted of killing wife Annette Cherry in June 1997 at Springsure, southwest of Rockhampton, and his stepdaughter, Kira Guise, in 1999 near Roma.
He received two life sentences for the murders with a mandatory minimum custodial period of 20 years.
Cherry yelled “I didn’t kill her” in a spectacular spray during a court hearing in November, 2022, to determine his potential release.
He was facing his second parole hearing for the year on November 26, more than 20 years since killing his family members.
Sporting a large grey beard and dressed in prison clothes, he yelled throughout his video link from jail, claiming he never killed his stepdaughter and could find her if he was released from prison.
He appealed his convictions in 2004 but it was dismissed.
At a parole hearing in November, the board met to consider whether Cherry had given satisfactory co-operation in the investigation to find Kira’s body. But Cherry didn’t offer any new information which could help find her.
The board will consider all evidence and deliver a decision on Cherry’s parole next year. Deborah Guise was convicted of her mother’s manslaughter and later perjury after giving false testimony during two Supreme Court trials.
YASPATHU PETER NAMOK
PAROLE ELIGIBILITY: MARCH 18, 2024
A Molendinar teenager, who raped a sleeping woman because he thought she wanted sex, will be eligible for parole in March 2024.
Yaspathu Peter Namok, 19, pleaded guilty to one count of rape and one count of sexual assault in the Southport District Court in July 2022.
The court heard that in March 2021, Namok removed the woman’s pyjamas and underwear and raped her while she was sleeping on a sofa bed in a lounge room. He was 18.
The woman confronted Namok after being awakened from a deep sleep. He responded by saying “I thought you wanted to have sex”, the court was told.
“What part of me sleeping gave you the impression I wanted sex?” she replied.
The court was told Namok was “extremely intoxicated” that night, had no recollection of the rape, was remorseful and had limited his drinking to the occasional beer after work.
Judge Rowan Jackson noted Namok had no criminal history at the time of the offence and sentenced him to five-and-a-half years’ jail with a parole eligibility date of March 18, 2024.
MITCHELL RYAN WEST
ELIGIBLE FOR PAROLE: SEPTEMBER 27, 2024
A man who inflicted a terrifying robbery on a Townsville magistrate in her own home will be eligible for parole on September 7, 2024, after he was sentenced to six years’ jail in November 2022.
Mitchell Ryan West had only been on parole for five months before he spiralled into a crime spree which would span seven months and cover almost the entire length of the Queensland coast, from Coomera to Cairns.
Townsville District Court heard some of the offences involved West donning masks and wielding weapons such as a screwdriver and a tyre iron in his crimes.
In other offences, West targeted an elderly man running a fruit stand, and the employees of a convenience store and a bottle shop.
The court heard in one robbery at Redbank Plains, the owner of a vehicle jumped on the back of the car as West drove away, but managed to get off before he drove it through a gate.
West also racked up dangerous operation of a vehicle and evasion offence charges as he headed further north.
But his “intense” spree came to an end on September 6, 2021, when the then 29-year-old attempted to rob respected Townsville Magistrate Cathy Wadley in her own home on a semirural property south of Townsville.
The court heard West drove through the gates of the property, before trying to smash through a door with “whatever” he had in hand.
West pleaded guilty to all 37 charges against him before Judge Michael Byrne which included multiple counts of stealing, unlawful use of a motor vehicle, evasion offences, enter dwelling with intent and armed robbery.
In sentencing, Judge Byrne said he accepted West was “somewhat a danger” to society. A period of 445 days presentence custody was taken into account but not declared.
JOSEPH RAYMOND THIMBLE
PAROLE ELIGIBILITY: November 11, 2024
Joseph Raymond Thimble will not be eligible for parole until November 2024 after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter following an incident at his Earlville home in which his housemate was killed on January 28, 2020.
Cairns Supreme Court heard that Thimble had been drinking with his partner’s father at home and was heavily intoxicated when friend Marcus Blair became abusive.
There was an argument and a physical altercation that led to Mr Blair being fatally stabbed at the Earlville house.
Thimble, who was on parole at the time of the offence, was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment, with a parole eligibility date after four-and-a-half years “to reflect the seriousness of the offending”.
Crown Prosecutor Sam Bain said it was a disturbing feature that in the immediate aftermath, Thimble was seen to be laughing.
Taking into account 538 days in pre-sentence custody, Thimble will be eligible for parole on November 11, 2024.
JACK CLARENCE SMITH
PAROLE ELIGIBILITY: FEBRUARY 16, 2026
Jack Clarence Smith, who pleaded guilty to stabbing a police officer in June, will remain behind bars until at least February 16, 2026, when he will be eligible for parole.
Smith pleaded guilty to a malicious act with intent related to the stabbing of Senior Constable Tim Liesegang at Cairns Central on February 16, 2021 along with 25 lesser charges.
Smith has been held in custody since the stabbing incident.
Cairns District Court heard a month before the attack, Smith had threatened a man with a knife at Mt Sheridan Shopping Centre and that the offences occurred while he was on parole after receiving a suspended sentence for another crime.
Judge Dean Morzone noted that Smith had been convicted of more than 60 offences with 15 court appearances.
The court heard that Snr Const. Liesegang attempted to handcuff Smith, who produced a knife with a 12cm blade and stabbed him in the jaw, twice in the right lung, in his hip, and finger as he resisted arrest and the pair wrangled on the ground.
They stood and Smith stabbed the policeman again in the chest.
Snr Const. Liesegang told the court he collapsed from lung injuries and crawled out of the stairwell gasping for air and as he registered the shock on his partner’s face, he was unsure if his injuries were life-ending.
His wife Caroline Liesegang, a nurse who was on shift at Cairns Hospital when her husband arrived in emergency, described “shock, disbelief, fright and stress” as she scrambled to contact their teen sons and was horrified at what she saw on hospital monitors.
Judge Morzone sentenced Smith to nine years’ prison with parole eligibility on February 16, 2026, declaring the 470 days he has been in custody part of time served.
JESSHUA ERROLL RICHARD READDY
ELIGIBILITY FOR PAROLE: MARCH 8, 2026
Drink driver Jesshua Readdy, who was jailed for nine years for the deaths of Ayr’s Donna Chapman and grandson Aziz Borne in October 2021, will remain behind bars until 2026.
Readdy, 23, made the fateful decision to drive after a night of partying on Magnetic Island.
Townsville District Court heard in September that Readdy had been drinking and smoking cannabis the night before the crash, and that his partying continued into the day – finishing his last drink at about 12.30pm or 1.30pm.
At 4.45pm, Readdy lost control of his Prado – first clipping a Toyota Corolla, and then colliding head-on with Ms Chapman’s Mazda 3.
Ms Chapman had been driving with her daughter Jade, 30, in the passenger seat and Aziz – Jade’s son – in the rear right side passenger seat.
Ms Chapman was pronounced dead on the scene, and Jade had to be extricated from the vehicle, and later underwent multiple surgeries. Aziz died four days later in hospital.
Readdy pleaded guilty to a count of dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death and grievous bodily harm while adversely affected by an intoxicating substance.
A test after the crash revealed Readdy had a blood-alcohol level of .140 per cent.
Judge Paul Smith sentenced Readdy to nine years’ jail, with a parole eligibility date set at March 8, 2026.
GERARD BADEN-CLAY
ELIGIBLE TO APPLY FOR PAROLE: 2027
Wife murderer Gerard Baden-Clay who is serving a life sentence can apply for parole in five years.
The grieving family of Allison Baden-Clay remembered her in April, 10 years after she was killed, with the milestone also marking Baden-Clay spending two thirds of his sentence in jail.
Allison disappeared from the Brookfield home she shared with Gerard and their three daughters in April 2012.
Her body was found 10 days later under the Kholo Creek Bridge at Anstead.
Her real estate agent husband Baden-Clay denied killing her but was convicted and was sentenced to life in jail, with a non-parole period of 15 years. It means he could be released as soon as 2027.
But high-profile solicitor Bill Potts said the public should not assume Baden-Clay will be automatically released once the 15-year non-parole period is completed.
He said the convicted murderer would have to apply to the state’s parole board.
“The parole board would take into account a whole range of factors including the objective seriousness of the offence, whether the person has expressed any remorse, their conduct while in custody and whether they remain a continuing danger to society,” Mr Potts said.
“All of those factors are ones which means the parole board will have to look at in depth.
“The parole board may decide completely differently or it may decide to release him immediately there,” he said.
MADELEINE LEWIN
ELIGIBLE FOR RELEASE: 2029
Cairns sex worker Madeleine Lewin, who was on parole when she committed manslaughter, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison with no parole date in Cairns Supreme Court in September.
The court heard Anthony Michael Brady, 52, was found dead in Lewin’s room at the Sunshine Tower Hotel in Sheridan St, Cairns on August 14, 2020.
He was found face down, naked and bound to a bed with rope and handcuffs, gagged, hooded, with rope tied around his neck, and with a used 20cm ribbed glass dildo between his legs.
He died from asphyxiation, forensic pathologist Dr Paul Botterill told the court.
Justice Jim Henry said Mr Brady must have exhibited he was in difficulty but Lewin “self-indulgently continued on in disregard of his safety”.
Lewin left her room at 11.30pm that night, having disguised herself, Crown prosecutor Nathan Crane told the court during the trial that began on September 5.
The court heard there was nothing to suggest any attempts by her at medical intervention, assistance, attempts at resuscitation, or phone calls to any medical provider.
Justice Henry said Lewin was on parole for multiple convictions including six assaults on police and carjacking at the time of the offence.
Mr Brady arrived in Cairns on August 10 for work and was due to fly home on August 13, with family members reporting him missing when he did not arrive.
STEVEN JAMES RUSH
PAROLE ELIGIBILITY: JANUARY 2030
A prolific drug peddler, who has been convicted of trafficking four times, will spend most of the next decade behind bars.
Steven James Rush, 54, faced Townsville Supreme Court in February 2022 where he pleaded guilty to trafficking methamphetamine. Rush will stay in the slammer until at least 2030 when he is eligible to ask the Parole Board to grant him early release.
In 2021, Rush was jailed for more than a decade, given an 11-year sentence, over a “very significant” drug operation where he trafficked meth for about six months between March and September 2019.
Police uncovered more than $1.2 million cash, 19kg of marijuana and more than 328g of pure meth after a series of searches.
During the period, police said Rush sourced and sold more than $2.2 million of drugs across North Queensland.
The court heard Rush struggled to source drugs with supply interrupted by the pandemic and that in “desperation” he reached out to his co-accused in a previous trafficking matter and asked him to mail drugs.
As part of their bail conditions the pair were banned from speaking to each other but exchanged messages about drugs where they spoke of shooting their “nemesis”, the head of Townsville’s Major Organised Crime Squad, before they faced the music and were sent to jail.
The court heard that Rush sent a message that said “we will find out where he lives, we will get less time for f-cking knocking him off than they are getting us for”.
Rush, who had spent 521 days in custody awaiting sentencing, was given a four-year head sentence with his parole eligibility date extended to January 2030.
Justice David North said the sentence would run cumulatively with the other sentence he was already serving.
LINDY YVONNE WILLIAMS (BLACK WIDOW)
FULL TIME PAROLE ELIGIBILITY: July 17, 2034
Black widow Lindy Williams’ startling confession from behind bars has revealed the notorious headless torso killer tried to make a bid for early freedom.
Williams spent days hacking apart the remains of her dead lover, George Gerbic, with a Bunnings electric saw before dumping his body parts at random in wheelie bins across Gympie and the Sunshine Coast.
Mr Gerbic’s torso was found burning on the side of the road near Gympie in September 2013.
In July 2014, Police executed a search warrant at Williams’ home, during which she acknowledged Mr Gerbic was dead but failed to disclose how he died.
She was later arrested and taken into custody where she has remained. Between August 2014 and May 2015, while a high secure inpatient, she admitted to the murder.
She reported a 10-year history of perceptual disturbance and during that admission was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
In July 2018, Williams was found guilty at trial of Mr Gerbic’s murder and sentenced to life imprisonment
In October 2018, Williams was interviewed by police in prison and provided information for the first time about how she dismembered Mr Gerbic and dumped his remains.
She filed an exceptional circumstances parole application in May 2020.
In October, 2022, the Queensland parole board held a public hearing specifically relating to whether Williams fulfilled the requirements under No Body, No Parole legislation.
Williams’ full time parole eligibility date remains at July 17, 2034.
RICK THORBURN
ELIGIBLE TO APPLY FOR PAROLE: SEPTEMBER 12, 2036
Rick Thorburn is serving a life sentence for murder after being convicted of murdering his foster daughter Tiahleigh Palmer and dumping her body in a Gold Coast river in 2015.
He is at Wolston Correctional Centre but was rushed to hospital in a critical condition in September 2020 and again in August 2022.
Thorburn was sentenced to life imprisonment after pleading guilty to murder in the Supreme Court in Brisbane in May, 2018.
Thorburn was considered a high risk of self-harm and was treated for both suicide attempts at Princess Alexandra Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit in Woolloongabba.
He will need to serve 20 years in prison before being eligible for parole on September 12, 2036.
ANTHONY JAMES O’KEEFE
PAROLE ELIGIBILITY: NOVEMBER 9, 2036
Convicted murderer Anthony James O’Keefe is likely to remain behind bars until 2036.
O’Keefe, 38, pleaded guilty in Rockhampton Magistrates Court on August 11 to his latest charge, one count of fraud.
O’Keefe was sentenced to life in prison in August 2021 after he was found guilty in the Townsville Supreme Court for the murder of Elizabeth Kippin, 81, who was killed in her Wulguru home on July 26, 2016.
He was also found guilty of trying to kill two others including his friend Brittny Speechly-Faulks who he stabbed multiple times.
In August 2022, Rockhampton Magistrates Court found he allowed an inmate at Capricornia Correctional Centre to use his phone service to breach a domestic violence order.
Police prosecutor Clancy Fox said O’Keefe was an inmate with Gregory Coulson, who had a domestic violence order preventing him from contacting a woman.
O’Keefe, who appeared in court via video link, said had he known a domestic violence order was in place, he “probably wouldn’t have put the number on it”.
Mr Fox said O’Keefe had parole eligibility on November 9, 2036 and was serving life in prison for murder. Rockhampton Magistrate Cameron Press said he didn’t intend to interfere with O’Keefe’s parole eligibility date.
ROBERT PAUL LONG
FIRST ELIGIBLE FOR PAROLE 2020
PAROLE DENIED FEB 2021
ELIGIBLE TO REAPPLY: 2022
Convicted Childers Backpacker Hostel murderer and arsonist Robert Paul Long is expected to remain behind bars for some time after his bid for parole was denied in 2021.
Long made his application for freedom in 2020, which marked 20 years since Long lit the fire which tore through the Palace Hostel in Childers, killing 15 backpackers including two Australians.
After a 19-day trial in the Supreme Court in Brisbane, he was found guilty of murdering two backpackers, Australian twins Kelly and Stacey Slarke.
He was sentenced to life in jail with a non-parole period of 20 years after setting fire to the hostel in 2000.
Under Queensland law in 2000, 20 years was the maximum non-parole period a person could be sentenced for multiple murders.
Long came up for parole in 2020. An online petition to keep him incarcerated gathered over 20,000 signatures. More than 30 letters were sent to the Queensland parole board asking for him to remain in prison.
At present, Long is still in prison with no release date set.
BRETT PETER COWAN
ELIGIBLE TO APPLY FOR PAROLE: 2031
Brett Peter Cowan will be eligible to apply for parole in 2031 but there is no guarantee he will ever be released.
He was sentenced to life in prison in March 2014 after being found guilty of murdering Sunshine Coast teen Daniel Morcombe. Cowan was sentenced to 20 years non-parole, meaning he must serve 20 years in jail before he can apply for parole.
This means, in theory, he could remain in jail until he dies.
He was also sentenced to three-and-a-half years’ imprisonment for indecently dealing with the teen and two years for interfering with his corpse, those sentences to be served concurrently.
Judge Roslyn Atkinson said: “I don’t think you should be released in 20 years time” which could affect Cowan’s prison term. Once the non-parole period has been served, prisoners can be considered for parole every 12 months, creating an ongoing cycle of trauma for victims’ loved ones.
Cowan will be eligible to apply for parole in 2031. Daniel’s parents Denise and Bruce Morcombe welcomed the government’s proposed parole crackdown.
“Life should mean life. Effectively, this legislation does,” Bruce Morcombe said.
LLOYD CLARK FLETCHER
INDEFINITE: SIX FAILED PAROLE APPLICATIONS
Convicted rapist and murderer Lloyd Clark Fletcher, often referred to as Queensland’s equivalent of Charles Manson, is one of the few Queensland prisoners to be jailed indefinitely.
Fletcher was jailed in 1978 for the rape and attempted murder of a young woman in Innisfail.
After raping her, Fletcher choked the young woman into unconsciousness before dragging her to a jetty and throwing her into the water.
He was jailed for the attack but four months after his release, Fletcher raped and murdered 15-year-old Janet Phillips after she left a party at Wynnum on Brisbane’s bayside.
It would take police another 10 years to link Fletcher to the murder but in 1989, he struck again, attacking 13-year-old Donna Rupp in regional Victoria as she rode her bike home.
He was sentenced to five years’ jail but was released in 1993.
Four years later, he attacked an 18-year-old woman at the Wynnum railway station. He dragged a young woman to his car at knifepoint, beat and choked her but she escaped when he was disturbed by a group of teenagers.
In 2022, he made a bid for freedom after being diagnosed with terminal cancer but one of his victims launched a petition in an effort to keep the “evil” killer behind bars.
Fletcher has applied for parole, arguing he should be released because he is suffering from cancer.
He will be subjected to new laws targeting the “worst of the worst” killers introduced after Barrie John Watts, who killed Noosa schoolgirl Sian Kingi, made a bid for freedom.
The laws allow the president of the parole board to make a declaration preventing a child murderer or someone convicted of multiple murders from applying for parole for 10 years.
BARRIE JOHN WATTS
INDEFINITE: WAS ELIGIBLE TO REAPPLY FOR PAROLE IN JULY 2022
Schoolgirl Sian Kingi’s murderer Barrie Watts had his parole bid rejected in 2021 after a lengthy public appeal to keep him locked away.
Sian was abducted by Watts and his de facto Valmae Beck on November 27, 1987.
The 12-year-old Sunshine Coast schoolgirl had stopped at the shops with her mother Lynda on the way home from school.
Sian left to ride her bike the short distance home while her mother drove. Watts tortured, raped and murdered the schoolgirl and dumped her body in bushland, 15km from her Noosa home.
The Queensland Parole Board rejected Watts’ parole application in July 2021.
In June 2021, the board deferred its decision while it awaited an additional psychiatric risk assessment by Dr Josephine Sundin, who had assessed Watts in 2015.
In a subsequent 2021 report, Dr Sundin said “both anti-social personality disorder and psychopathy are considered to be lifelong conditions”.
Dr Sundin said Watts would not be a suitable person to be safely managed under parole board-imposed high-intensity supervision conditions.
The parole board said because of the seriousness of Watts’ offending, his diagnosis of psychopathy and sexual sadism and his limited release plans, the board formed a view that Watts’ risk to the community was “unacceptably high at this time”.
There were 27 occasions in which he was convicted and sentenced for a total of 58 offences.
Watts has lived in the residential section of Wolston Correctional Centre since May 2014, working in the kitchen.
He was eligible to make another application in July 2022 but was subjected to new state laws giving the president of the Parole Board of Queensland the power to stop the “worst of the worst” murderers from applying for parole for up to 10 years.
Under the new laws, Watts, as a convicted child killer, will have to prove to the board that he would not be a risk to community safety.
CHARLES ROBERT HOLT
ELIGIBLE TO APPLY FOR PAROLE: APRIL 4, 2025
Charles Robert Holt, who was jailed for preying on three siblings and was convicted of child sex offences, will be eligible to apply for parole in April 2025.
Crown prosecutor Samantha O’Rourke told the Rockhampton District Court in 2021 that Holt was subject to a probation order handed down in 1977 for unlawful carnal knowledge with the brother of the two other victims, and continued to offend against the current victims while on that probation order.
She said it was alarming that a conviction for offending against the brother did not deter Holt.
Holt was convicted and sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment for maintaining a sexual relationship with another victim, aged six to 11, after a jury found him guilty in 2018.
Then he pleaded guilty on June 23, 2021 to four counts of indecent treatment of a child and one of rape.
Ms O’Rourke said the other two victims were 12 and 14, the latter was who he raped.
Holt was jailed for 5.5 years with parole eligibility on April 4, 2025.
KEPLER DENNIS HOOD
ELIGIBLE TO APPLY FOR PAROLE: NOVEMBER 2022
FULL-TIME RELEASE: MAY 7, 2029
Toowoomba man Kepler Dennis Hood, who was jailed for seven years and nine months after pleading guilty to the attempted armed robbery of the Federal Hotel in Toowoomba, was eligible to apply for release on parole in November 2022.
Should he not get parole, Hood’s full-time release date will be May 7, 2029.
Toowoomba District Court, in May 2021, heard Hood, and a co-offender, disguised themselves and went to the Federal Hotel armed with guns about 4.20am on May 10 in 2019 with the intention of robbing the pub.
However, when they were disturbed by the hotel manager, Hood chased him out of the pub into the carpark where he fired a gunshot. The hotel manager fell over and broke his leg when fleeing the intruders. Hood and his accomplice left empty-handed and the car they had fled in was later found torched.
When arrested at a Rockville home days later, Hood was found to have a bag containing 33g of meth in his bottom and a stolen gold ring in his underwear.
In sentencing Hood, Judge Katherine McGuinness ordered he be eligible to apply for release on parole as of November 27, 2022.
MAX SICA
ELIGIBLE TO APPLY FOR PAROLE: 2047
In 2012, triple murderer Max Sica was sentenced to a non-parole period of 35 years, the longest term ever ordered in Queensland, for the murder of the Singh siblings.
Sica was convicted of murdering his former girlfriend Neelma Singh, 24, and her two siblings after their bodies were found in the spa bath at their Bridgeman Downs home on April 22, 2003.
In September 2013, Sica lost his fight to overturn guilty jury verdicts and reduce the 35-year non-parole period when the Court of Appeal found the trial judge did not err and dismissed all seven grounds listed to appeal the conviction.
Justice John Muir, Justice Robert Gotterson and Justice Peter Applegarth presided over the appeal.
CLIVE NICHOLSON
LIFE IMPRISONMENT
Convicted killer Clive Anthony Nicholson, who bludgeoned his wife to death and dumped her remains in Gold Coast waters, is currently serving a term of life imprisonment.
Nicholson was convicted by a jury in 2006 for the murder of his wife, Julie Rose Nicholson in July 2003. The body or the remains of Mrs Nicholson have never been found and Nicholson is considered a “No Body, No Parole” prisoner.
Under Queensland law, that means he cannot be granted parole unless the Parole Board is satisfied he has co-operated satisfactorily in locating the victim’s body.
In September, 2022, Nicholson appealed against the sentence in Brisbane Magistrates Court.
But the matter was adjourned after disagreements over new information he provided in 2019 as to where he dumped his wife’s body.
Nicholson had previously maintained he placed Julie’s body in The Spit, a large portion of the Gold Coast’s waterways.
But in 2019, he changed his story, and disclosed to police he buried his wife in a hole at Cedar Grove, near Jimboomba.
Nicholson’s initial parole application in 2021 was dismissed, with the board finding he had not given “satisfactory co-operation” in helping find the body. Queensland’s Supreme Court then set aside that ruling, ordering another review from the board.
The Parole Board Queensland met to consider the matter on May 20; August 31; September 1, and September 2, 2022.
Under direction of Parole Board Queensland Deputy President Peter Shields it was decided the board would accept all of the additional material. The board has yet to finalise any decision.
PAUL PISASALE
RELEASED ELIGIBLE TO APPLY FOR PAROLE: OCTOBER 2022
Disgraced former Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale was released from jail in 2022 after being sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison in 2020.
His parole eligibility date was set for October 2022 and prison documents in December showed he was no longer an inmate.
Pisasale pleaded guilty to 35 charges, including official corruption and sexual assault, before Ipswich District Court Judge Dennis Lynch.
At the time, the court heard that Pisasale sexually assaulted a 23-year-old woman he met at a local function in December 2016.
His other offences included fraud, perjury and unlawful possession of drugs.
Judge Lynch said Pisasale had also used charity funds to buy items for himself and organised for charity items to be delivered to his girlfriend’s business.
Pisasale had been in custody at Wolston Correctional Centre.
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