Some of Victoria’s worst criminals going unsupervised after being freed from jail
State government efforts to make it harder for criminals to get parole mean many are now being freed from prison without any supervision, a Herald Sun investigation has found.
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More than 100 of Victoria’s most serious and violent criminals have been freed from prison without monitoring or supervision.
A notorious bikie boss, armed robbers, brutal thugs and prison rioters are among the crooks set free without strings in just 10 months.
Tougher parole laws introduced in 2016 made it harder for convicted criminals to be freed before their prison sentences expired.
But a justice source said it had the unintended consequence of allowing prisoners free rein back in the community as more served sentences in full.
A Sunday Herald Sun analysis of 125 criminals released from prison between June last year and March has found just 14 were released under parole.
Those who served their full term and were released without monitoring or supervision include:
COMANCHERO boss Mick Murray, who served a sentence for contempt of court and was released in the midst of a violent power struggle within the gang;
A MEMBER of a notorious Middle Eastern crime family Omar Chaouk who was jailed for carrying a firearm;
JOHN James Stewart, a serial thug with a 32-page criminal record who bashed a German backpacker, leaving his victim unable to speak;
HIT-RUN driver Thomas Towle, who killed six teen pedestrians and was serving time for a series of unrelated thefts;
ARMED robber Robert Glowacki, who has a long criminal history and previously reoffended just after release;
PRISON rioter George Moshi, who bashed a prison guard during a wild jailhouse brawl; and
ALEX Urquhart, a major player in the Geelong drug-dealing scene, jailed for being caught with a loaded handgun.
Last October, the state government introduced new post-sentence supervision orders for violent offenders — allowing authorities to put them on curfews or under electronic monitoring or demand they live in a secure facility.
But even though dozens of crooks’ prison terms have since run out — including Towle, Glowacki, Moshi and Urquhart — they haven’t been put on such orders.
Just one inmate in the 10-month sample of prisoner releases seen by the Sunday Herald Sun is known to be on a post-sentence supervision order for violent offenders.
That thug, whose name is suppressed, repeatedly stomped and kicked a man in an unprovoked attack.
He has 47 convictions — more than half a dozen for assaults.
The state government maintains that post-sentence orders are only for repeat violent offenders deemed by the courts to be an unacceptable risk to the community.
A spokesman said post-sentence supervision orders, usually only slapped on serious sex offenders, were last October expanded to keep violent criminals “under watch”.
But only six criminals have been put on the orders.
“The government has also significantly strengthened parole with less people on parole now than in 2012,’’ the spokesman said.
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Serious and violent sex offenders would only be granted parole after their application was approved by two hearings of the Adult Parole Board, he said.
Prisoners had to apply for parole with community safety a paramount consideration for granting it, he added. About half as many crooks are now on parole compared with five years ago.
At the same time, prisons are being pushed towards capacity with more than 8200 people locked up statewide.