I woke this morning, turned on the TV to ABC News 24, and saw a caption at bottom of screen which read ‘gunman dead’. Having, probably like most Australians, stayed up late watching events unfold before succumbing to sleep, at first I felt relief – did these mean the hostages were OK? But the full caption was obscured by an image from the scene – within seconds I saw that two others had been killed: 38-year-old barrister and mother of three Katrina Dawson and 34-year-old Lindt Chocolate Café store manager Tori Johnson.
In the wake of the tragedy and devastation of the Sydney Siege this morning, represented in an unending tribute of flowers for the loss of Dawson and Johnson, many are asking how Man Haron Monis, with a string of violent offences, including 50 sexual assault charges and being charged in November 2013 with being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife and mother of two Noleen Hayson Pal (who was stabbed and set alight) was out on bail.
A Change petition has been launched calling on NSW Mike Baird to toughen bail laws. Please support it.
Sarah LangstonSydney, NSW
After the #sydneysiege we have learnt this man was let out on bail after facing accessory to murder charges and about 40 sexual assault charges.
Bail laws were meant to have been changed already, but “administrative bungles” have stalled them until late January. That’s not good enough. We need stronger bail laws that would have kept this dangerous man behind bars right now.
The public deserves to be protected from violent criminals.
‘All these women might still be alive if their killers had not been paroled’ is a column I wrote two years ago about women who were killed at the hands of men out on parole. No, the tragedy we have just witnessed isn’t just about women of course. But the issue of bail and early parole is relevant in that Man Haron Monis was returned to society, with all its privileges, enabling him to plot his next brutal (and fatal) path.
The actions of Tori Johnson, who was fatally shot in the Martin Place siege while trying to disarm the hostage-taker, allowing others to escape, are a deeply moving antidote to the behaviour of men like Man Haron Monis and those I wrote about. Thank you Tori for reminding us of what good men look like.
Lucia Osborne-Crowley
The comment made by the magistrate who granted Monis bail the first time – for the accessory to murder charge – is telling. He said Monis is not a threat to public safety because the only person he posed a threat to was his deceased ex-wife. This assumption that Monis’ violence was limited to one woman and one situation denies a proven connection between violence against women and a series of other issues of public safety. It underlines an assumption that men who are violent towards women are not necessarily violent men.
It underestimates the reality that violence against women is, itself, a public safety issue.
We have long understood that violence begets violence, but what we somehow can’t understand is that violence against women is no different. Read full article
6 Responses
As someone who works with survivors of trauma, domestic violence, and sexual assault, I see the pain caused by our ineffective legal system far too often.
Time and time again I hear about abuse, assaults, and even murders committed by people who should never have been released on bail.
I was once involved in a child sexual abuse case where the offender was on bail for three years before being found guilty on a number of counts, even though there had been a several allegations made by different children over the previous decade.
In the time he was on bail, he was able to father a child. His partner (charges were dropped against her for lack of evidence) was able to continue working with vulnerable people.
Just months into his sentence he appealed and was again released. The psychological toll on the victims and witnesses was too much to bear at this point, and they decided to accept a lesser plea which unfortunately saw him avoid a custodial sentence.
This is how our legal system works, and this is why violent criminals are able to reoffend so easily.
The man who murdered Daniel Morcombe, and the man who murdered Jill Meagher, neither of them should have been free to do what they did.
When are we going to take these crimes seriously?
This man had a string on violence against him. Why was he allowed to walk our streets?
Does the judicial system live in an ivory tower? I think so
The legal system theoretically is there to protect society and victims of crime.
Unfortunately all too often it seems to fail miserably and protect the perpetrators of crime.
Particularly violent crime against women.
I am a woman who was raped by a repeat sexual offender, who I believe was recently released from prison when he assaulted me. So most likely on parole.
The horror I went through did not end after the event.
I knew deep in my shame scarred being that this was a man who would not stop being violent.
So I decided to report him.
After suffering further trauma through a trial that ended with a rare conviction and a 10 year sentence ,
for the perpetrator he continued his violence behind bars, threatening to murder me through a third party.
I was in constant fear of death and of my children’s lives being in danger also.
He was released 3 years early without the parole board informing me or consulting with me on this impact or danger.
He’s on parole now do you think I can sleep easy?
Do I think he was rehabilitated in prison? No.
Do I think he will reoffend ? Yes!
Does it always have to be a lesson learnt too late after more and more violence ensues or someone is killed?
I certainly hope not!
Let’s make them face the consequences of their violence not us!
When my mother died 3yrs ago, she carried the terrible, overwhelming grief and trauma of losing my sister Helen to murder in 1995. Helen was traumatised and then murdered by an aggressive, controlling and violent man who was on parole after serving a brief sentence for ‘aggravated assault’ against his wife. In reality, this man had repeatedly stabbed his wife and held her and their young daughter hostage over a number of hours before being apprehended by the police. For that crime, he served just 18months before being released on parole.
Helen’s death was a terrible shock and a devastating loss to our family, her friends and the small rural community where we grew up. She was bright, funny, capable and young (being only 25 when she died) and was just embarking on life. By the time she was 23, she had been on the big trip to Europe and had completed a Bachelor of Arts from ANU and a post graduate business course at Canberra University. She had everything going for her when she met her attacker.
I understand that in NSW, the processes for managing paroled offenders have been under review to put in place stronger sentencing, assessment and parole monitoring. The very high profile murder of Jill Meagher in Melbourne brought a swift response, in part because of the overwhelming public outcry to address the shortcomings in the Victorian system.
There is no doubt that changes have occurred in sentencing, prison and parole management since my own sister’s terrible death, however, yesterday’s siege in Martin Place suggests that the parole system continues to fail the community.
In Martin Place, Man Haron Monis, who was an accused sex offender and murderer, has been able to take the lives of two innocent people and has left 15 others highly traumatised. The cost to those people, their families and society more broadly is enormous. I know from my own experience, that they will deal with years of post-traumatic stress and some may never recover the quality of life they had before yesterday.
Will the wife of Monis remain free on bail to perhaps commit the next act of terror in Australia? She has very clearly stated her beliefs, loyalty and ideology just as he always did, and she has also acted on them, just as he did.