Anger as Russell St bomber Craig Minogue could be free next year

UPDATE: VICTIMS and police are angry that cop-killing Russell St bomber Craig Minogue could be released from jail as early as next year.

UPDATE: VICTIMS and police are angry that cop-killing Russell St bomber Craig Minogue could be released from jail as early as next year and would in effect be handed a “freebie murder”.

Minogue was sentenced in 1988 to life in jail with a minimum 28 years for the Russell St attack, in which a car packed with explosives was detonated in front of police headquarters.

Constable Angela Taylor, 21, was killed and 22 others injured.

Minogue is expected to make a case for parole based on his clean prison ­record of the past 20 years.

This is despite murdering a fellow inmate during the early stages of his prison term — a crime for which not a single day was added to Minogue’s sentence.

Gary Ayres, one of the senior Russell St bombing investigators, said the 1986 atrocity alone meant Minogue’s parole should be ­opposed.

But the fact that Minogue killed Alex Tsakmakis behind bars made Mr Ayres even more adamant.

“It (Russell St) is the worst crime we’ve had. They didn’t give a stuff who they killed and then he’s killed again,” Mr Ayres said.

Minogue received no extra jail time for that killing because of sentencing restrictions, but the judge remarked that the parole board might eventually extend his time.

Mr Ayres, who headed the arson and bomb squad at the time, said the Tsakmakis killing should not wind up being a “freebie murder”.

“It’s a free hit. He hasn’t paid for a murder. Don’t let him out,” he said.

The Adult Parole Board could face a dilemma when it considers Minogue’s case.

He has stayed out of trouble for almost his entire term, ­attaining university degrees and creating art.

The State Government today said it wasn’t considering “one-man legislation” to keep Minogue behind bars.

Premier Daniel Andrews said the responsibility lay with the Adult Parole Board, who have “an important job to do” to ensure community safety.

He said while Minogue’s “evil conduct” saw him thrown in prison, his behaviour since then would need to be examined.

But former police officer Carl Donadio, who was badly injured at Russell St, did not believe Minogue was entitled to an early release. “He’s done his degrees but it doesn’t change who he is,” he said.

Minogue used a pillow case packed with gym weights to ­fatally bash Tsakmakis, a ­vicious killer, at Pentridge Prison on July 26, 1988.

Justice George Hampel handed him a 27-year term to be served concurrently with his bombing punishment.

Mr Donadio said it was amazing Tsakmakis’s death did not earn Minogue more time behind bars.

“As much as he was a colourful character, I don’t think his family would have felt his life was worth nothing,” he said.

Minogue is a suspect in the 1992 murder of Glenroy teenager Prue Bird. One theory is Prue, 13, was murdered on the orders of Minogue.

The suspected motive was that her grandmother was in a relationship with a key prosecution witness in the Russell St bombings case, Paul Hetzel.

The Prue Bird case cannot be a factor in any consideration of parole for Minogue, something one former investigator said was a shame.

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