Hearing date set for depraved rapist Colin John Sparkes, who has been locked up for decades

One of Tasmania’s most depraved rapists is making a bid for freedom, after being locked up for good since 1997. See what will happen next in court.

Colin John Sparkes has been locked up at Risdon Prison since 1997. Picture: Zak Simmonds

A hearing date has been set to determine whether one of Tasmania’s most sadistic and depraved rapists will be released from his lifelong prison term.

Colin John Sparkes, now aged in his mid-60s, was permanently incarcerated in 1997 after being declared a dangerous criminal under Tasmania’s Dangerous Criminals and High Risk Offenders legislation.

His list of serious crimes against women include an instance where he repeatedly raped and performed degrading acts upon a 17-year-old girl he dragged off a Launceston street in 1983.

He got away with the crime for more than a decade until his DNA was matched to the crime scene.

In 1985, he broke into the home of a Queensland woman who was eight months pregnant and raped her.

In 1995, he broke into a Launceston home with a knife, with plans to rape the young girl that lived there – but his plans were foiled when she woke and screamed for her mother.

He was locked up for life by former Supreme Court judge Pierre Slicer, who noted his “propensity for violence and the exercise of power over women”.

On Tuesday, Justice Gregory Geason heard the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions had filed a review of Sparkes’ dangerous criminal declaration.

The matter has been set down for submissions on October 25.

Legislation passed in 2021 means a person’s declaration must now be reviewed at least once every three years.

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Originally published as Hearing date set for depraved rapist Colin John Sparkes, who has been locked up for decades