Two of NSW's most notorious killers intend to seek redetermination of their life sentences for the brutal murder of Anita Cobby.
Brothers Gary and Leslie Murphy were among five men jailed for life for Ms Cobby's savage rape and murder, which sparked calls for the reintroduction of the death penalty.
When they were sentenced in 1987, the judge recommended their files be marked "never to be released".
The NSW Supreme Court today heard that they intend to apply for a release date.
Ms Cobby, a 26-year-old nurse, was abducted on her way home in February 1986.
She was brutally bashed and repeatedly raped before her throat was slit in a paddock at Prospect, in Sydney's west.
The Murphys' case was briefly mentioned in the Supreme Court today, when their lawyer Will Hutchins indicated they would apply for a redetermined sentence.
Mr Hutchins told the court that one of Janine Balding's killers was also seeking a redetermination.
Balding, a 20-year-old bank clerk, was abducted from a railway car park at Sutherland in 1988 by a gang of street kids and sexually assaulted, gagged, bound and forced over a barbed wire fence before being drowned.
The prisoner who wants a redetermination of his life sentence - one of three serving life for Ms Balding's rape and murder - cannot be named because he was aged 14 at the time of the offence.
Mr Hutchins said "progress is impeded by the same legislation" in each of the cases involving the three prisoners.
Under truth-in-sentencing laws passed in 1989, prisoners jailed for life can apply to the Supreme Court to have a parole date set.
However, the government has since introduced legislation designed to prevent the state's worst criminals - including the Cobby and Balding killers - from ever qualifying for release.
Prisoners who were the subject of a non-release recommendation must now wait 30 years before applying for a redetermined sentence.
Ms Balding's killer is seeking special leave to challenge the legislation in the High Court, and Mr Hutchins said the Murphys' application depended on the outcome of the case.
Justice Peter Hall adjourned the matters to a date to be fixed next year.
Michael Murdoch, John Travers and another Murphy brother, Michael Murphy, are also serving life sentences for Ms Cobby's murder.
Two of NSW's most notorious killers intend to seek redetermination of their life sentences for the brutal murder of Anita Cobby.
Brothers Gary and Leslie Murphy were among five men jailed for life for Ms Cobby's savage rape and murder, which sparked calls for the reintroduction of the death penalty.
When they were sentenced in 1987, the judge recommended their files be marked "never to be released".
The NSW Supreme Court today heard that they intend to apply for a release date.
Ms Cobby, a 26-year-old nurse, was abducted on her way home in February 1986.
She was brutally bashed and repeatedly raped before her throat was slit in a paddock at Prospect, in Sydney's west.
The Murphys' case was briefly mentioned in the Supreme Court today, when their lawyer Will Hutchins indicated they would apply for a redetermined sentence.
Mr Hutchins told the court that one of Janine Balding's killers was also seeking a redetermination.
Balding, a 20-year-old bank clerk, was abducted from a railway car park at Sutherland in 1988 by a gang of street kids and sexually assaulted, gagged, bound and forced over a barbed wire fence before being drowned.
The prisoner who wants a redetermination of his life sentence - one of three serving life for Ms Balding's rape and murder - cannot be named because he was aged 14 at the time of the offence.
Mr Hutchins said "progress is impeded by the same legislation" in each of the cases involving the three prisoners.
Under truth-in-sentencing laws passed in 1989, prisoners jailed for life can apply to the Supreme Court to have a parole date set.
However, the government has since introduced legislation designed to prevent the state's worst criminals - including the Cobby and Balding killers - from ever qualifying for release.
Prisoners who were the subject of a non-release recommendation must now wait 30 years before applying for a redetermined sentence.
Ms Balding's killer is seeking special leave to challenge the legislation in the High Court, and Mr Hutchins said the Murphys' application depended on the outcome of the case.
Justice Peter Hall adjourned the matters to a date to be fixed next year.
Michael Murdoch, John Travers and another Murphy brother, Michael Murphy, are also serving life sentences for Ms Cobby's murder.
การแปล กรุณารอสักครู่..