By Erin Pearson
Daniel Hope knows that people call him a monster.
He has spent his entire adult life in prison.
Images of Daniel Hope over the years.Credit: The Age
Hope has made some appalling and violent decisions, the worst being seriously assaulting two prison guards that resulted in him being sentenced to 10 years behind bars.
But due for release in 2026 from maximum-security Barwon Prison, the 29-year-old has told friends and family he fears he is being set up to fail – sent back out into the world with no support services, no qualifications and no life skills.
His partner, his lawyer and prisoner advocates say Hope’s story is just one example of a system that’s supposed to support rehabilitation and change that, in fact, forgets the inmates who need high-level intervention.
“He remains upbeat to finish his sentence in 2026 if parole is never granted, but sees himself as just one prisoner in a system where the ‘inside world’ has forgotten,” lawyer Neil Howard says.
The Olearia unit at Barwon Prison, where Hope is a prisoner.Credit: Jason South
“His last words to me last Saturday were: ‘The system has made me the person I am today.’ I have thought long and hard about that.”
Hope’s partner, who asked not to be identified to protect her employment, has been visiting him several times a week for five years.
She says his treatment in custody raises questions about the line between punishment and institutionalism.
She fears the state is releasing men worse off than when they arrived in prison, against community expectation.
‘Do you want a monster to come out because this person may become your neighbour? Right now, he doesn’t know how to socialise. This is the reality.’
Daniel Hope’s partner
“Do you want a monster to come out because this person may become your neighbour? Right now, he doesn’t know how to socialise. This is the reality,” she says.
“He’s forgotten what the noise of cars is like, or how to react when someone says good morning. My partner is coming out to the support of a loving partner, but he needs more.
Hope says the prison system has made him a “monster”.
“Please help this man rehabilitate back into society. He’s coming home soon.”
Long dubbed a “monster farm”, some of Victoria’s largest correctional centres, including Barwon, sit side by side surrounded by rabbit-filled paddocks on the outskirts of Geelong.
Inside are some of the state’s most feared criminals, convicted of murder, drug trafficking, terrorism and rape.
Unlike many inmates who spend their years voicing their innocence, Hope doesn’t shy away from his past.
His time behind bars has been marked by repeated and life-altering assaults on prison workers.
Since then, Hope’s family says he’s spent much of his incarceration in isolation and is categorised as a dangerous inmate in the prison’s Olearia wing for his repeated attacks on prison guards.
Hope is classified as a dangerous inmate in Barwon’s Olearia unit.Credit: Jason South
For his violent and poor behaviour, they say Hope has been shackled on a concrete floor, and confined to his cell for weeks at a time as he continued to lash out at prison staff for years.
He tells them he accepts responsibility for his actions and says he deserved the 10-year sentence for assaulting staff.
His partner says attempts to complete education have been futile because access to a computer has been refused at times due to his security rating. He now faces leaving prison untrained, without proper schooling.
At the time of his 2017 sentencing for assaulting the prison guards, County Court judge Richard Smith acknowledged Hope was at risk of becoming institutionalised given his level of incarceration.
Hope says he’s desperate for help to rehabilitate before his release from prison.
Separation from his family was found to have been a factor behind his aggression from a young age, and a psychologist noted Hope hadn’t been offered any intervention despite having made requests for treatment.
Psychiatrist Adam Deacon told the County Court that Hope would become increasingly institutionalised and less amenable to intervention the longer he remained in solitary confinement, which would leave him unable to implement any acquired social and self-regulation skills.
But the 29-year-old feels as though he has been forgotten about by the system, spending much of his time in lockdown.
Hope is now clueless about the outside world. He’s never set foot in a community with a myki card and has no idea what it means to live in a cashless society with online shopping and self-checkouts.
He has no debit card and no idea of the changes to Melbourne’s geographical landscape since he was first incarcerated in 2011.
Former inmate Eleni Psillakis, who spent time in custody in NSW, says education is key in helping people get their lives back on track after time behind bars.
Psillakis, who currently works supporting women transitioning out of custody, says that in the past 25 years, little has changed in the way people are supported after leaving prison.
An aerial view of Barwon Prison near Geelong.Credit: Craig Abraham
She says that once released, former inmates can find it difficult to secure housing and jobs because their criminal records put them at the bottom of the pile.
‘How can they be allowed back on the streets with the expectation they’re just meant to integrate back to society? The system is absolutely creating monsters.’
A prison officer who knows Daniel Hope
There needs to be better co-ordination of services to help people secure ID cards, public transport passes and Centrelink support, so that jail release forms are not people’s only method to identify themselves, she adds.
Not everyone who knows Hope wants him released.
A former prison officer, commenting on the condition of anonymity, says she fears for the safety of the community if Hope is released and believes he will ultimately end up back in jail.
“We call it life by instalments,” she says.
Hope admits he is clueless on how the outside world works.Credit: Peter Rae
Another senior prison officer says Hope’s assault on the guards would never have happened if he had been managed properly, and warnings about a potential assault were escalated in the two weeks before.
The officer says Hope was also unable to complete many programs because he was unable to take part in group work or have his handcuffs removed when around others. Hope was known for kicking his door incessantly until he was given extra phone calls.
“It’s like taking a bear out of a cage that’s been poked for how many years and then saying, ‘I can’t believe they attacked the person who did it’,” the officer says.
“How can they be allowed back on the streets with the expectation they’re just meant to integrate back to society?
“The system is absolutely creating monsters.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Justice and Community Safety says Victoria has one of the lowest recidivism rates in the country with the rate of offenders returning to prison within two years lower than the national rate for five years.
They say Corrections Victoria provides inmates with training, education and access to housing and employment support to “ensure they have the best chance of leading safe and productive lives when they exit prison”.
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