Killer rapist Jamie John Curtis could be a free man this Friday

A notorious chainsaw torturer, sadistic murderer and rapist could be released from prison, with controversial proposed legislative changes ensuring he’s locked up for life still months away.

PROPOSED changes to Tasmania’s criminal laws haven’t come quickly enough for victims of “psychopath” rapist and murderer Jamie John Curtis, who could be back on Hobart’s streets a free man this weekend.

The notorious chainsaw torturer, initially jailed for life back in 1986, has been given yet another chance to win his freedom at a Parole Board of Tasmania hearing this Friday.

But if he fails to convince the board he’s suitable for life outside Risdon Prison – a possible outcome given he’s been paroled and reoffended in the past – time is running out for Curtis to avoid “indefinite detention”.

Mugshot of Jamie John Curtis.

Attorney-General Elise Archer told the Mercury the government’s Dangerous Criminals legislation, which would ensure the 64-year-old never saw life beyond bars again, would be introduced by the end of this year.

As it stands, it would be near impossible for Curtis – jailed by the now-retired, 84-year-old judge William Cox – to be permanently detained under current laws requiring the original sentencing judge to make a dangerous criminal declaration.

“The government’s proposed amendments will allow another judge, other than the sentencing judge, to hear an application for a dangerous criminal declaration,” Ms Archer said.

She said the proposed changes also included a second-tier scheme for serious sex offenders and violent criminals to be subject to electronic monitoring after their release.

Tameka Ridgeway, who Curtis subjected to a series of brutal and degrading rapes before cruelly murdering her fiance Dean Allie, wants the killer in jail for good – as does Mr Allie’s sister.

Jamie John Curtis is likely to be released on parole again. Picture: Supplied

But Tasmanian Prisoners Legal Service chair Greg Barns said Curtis was entitled to be released “if the parole board approves it”.

“What needs to happen is he needs to be supported in his re-entry into the community. This is for his sake and for the safety of the community,” he said.

“The Prisoners Legal Service strongly opposes detention without charge and so-called preventive detention. It has no place in a society which purports to uphold the rule of law.”

In 2002, Curtis’ life sentence was annulled and he was resentenced to serve a minimum non-parole period of 30 years, which lapsed on Valentine’s Day 2016.

The killer, who also abducted a 15-year-old schoolgirl before subjecting the Glenorchy couple to an horrific 12-hour ordeal alongside his teenage accomplice, was refused parole at that time.

The front cover of the Mercury reporting of the murder of Dean Allie.

However, his release was granted in June 2018 and he gained work at a butcher’s shop before he was locked up again months later over a raft of fresh offences.

Curtis again made a bid for his freedom in September last year, but was knocked back and precluded from applying for another six months.