Call for parole ban on killers who refuse to tell police how their victims died
Convicted killers who refuse to reveal how their victims died would not be allowed out of prison early, under a plan put on the agenda in the wake of Borce Ristevski’s controversial minimum six-year sentence.
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Convicted killers who refuse to reveal how their victims died would not be allowed out of prison early, under a plan put on the agenda in the wake of Borce Ristevski’s controversial minimum six-year sentence.
Ristevski was this week sentenced to nine years in jail for killing his wife Karen, but with time served taken into account, he could be released as early as 2023.
KAREN’S FAMILY CONDEMNS KILLER HUSBAND’S SENTENCE
SARAH RISTEVSKI STOOD BY KILLER DAD UNTIL THE END
IS A WOMAN’S LIFE ONLY WORTH SIX YEARS?
The killer had pleaded guilty to manslaughter — which carries a maximum 20-year term — but never explained how or why he killed his wife.
“We didn’t get justice today at all,” Karen’s younger brother Stephen Williams said after the sentence was handed down.
A police source told the Sunday Herald Sun that the state government should consider new laws to strip killers of their right to parole if they failed to explain how their victims died.
The officer said the changes would be similar to reforms passed in 2016 which mean killers who do not reveal the location of their victim’s body are not eligible for early release.
“Why is it any different to someone who won’t help find a body? Why should he get parole if he doesn’t provide answers? This tortures everyone,” the source said.
“It would not undermine the right to silence. It would have no impact on conviction.”
The source said he was confident Ristevski would walk out early, saying he would be smart enough to behave as “a model prisoner” to get parole.
On Friday, Victoria’s top cop has revealed he would consider denying parole to killers who refuse to explain how they victim died.
Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said numerous police were frustrated at the minimum six-year sentence handed to wife killer, Borce Ristevski, last week.
Ristevski pleaded guilty to manslaughter despite not telling police how his wife Karen died.
Mr Ashton said the policy had “come up for discussion” and he was open to the proposal.
“I would be happy to chat to the government about it if it came up,” he told 3AW radio.
A government spokesman said it “would not be appropriate” to comment, given the Office of Public Prosecutions was considering appealing Ristevski’s sentence.
Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien said sentencing laws were “out of step with community standards”.
“Nowhere is this more apparent than in the area of family violence,” he said.
Mr O’Brien called on the government to re-establish the parliamentary law reform committee to consider reforms, including mandatory minimum terms for family violence crimes.
A former senior officer said there was no need for new laws and that “the courts need to wake up to themselves and give appropriate judicial sentences”.
“The courts are contributing to rather than preventing violence against women,” the officer said.
Police had expected Ristevski’s crime would attract a maximum jail term of between 13 and 15 years, with a minimum of about 10 years.
The police source argued Ristevski had effectively been rewarded for saying nothing to investigators.
“They were some of the strongest victim impact statements you could ever hope to see. It beggars belief,” the source said.