Serial killer allowed to seek parole
The Victorian Court of Appeal has granted serial killer Paul Haigh the right to apply for freedom.
The 53-year-old is serving six life sentences for a series of murders in the 1970s and has spent more than 30 years in prison.
Haigh was convicted of murdering his girlfriend Lisa Brearley, 19, Tattslotto agency worker Evelyn Adams, 58, pizza shop operator and father of two Bruno Cingolani, 45, Sheryle Gardner, 31, and her 10-year-old son Danny Mitchell and associate Wayne Keith Smith, 27.
He was also convicted of killing sex offender Donald George Hatherley at Pentridge Prison in 1991.
In 2009 Supreme Court Justice Betty King ordered Haigh never be released.
Representing himself in the Court of Appeal, Haigh said his remorse, as well as the mental disorders he suffered at the time of the killings, had not been considered by Justice King.
He argued her decision was flawed because she had based it on a 2005 pre-sentence report that was later withdrawn by the Victorian Parole Board and replaced in 2007.
Last week Haigh told justices Peter Buchanan, Geoffrey Nettle and Emilios Kyrou that he no longer suffered mental disorders and no longer posed a threat to society.
"Jail has served its purpose in allowing me to rehabilitate, so it is a needless cruelty to keep me [there]," he said.
"I once belonged there because I was once a monster, but having become something less, then I deserve to be let out of the cage."
Today Justice Buchanan said the order made by Justice King should be set aside, meaning Haigh can now apply for parole.
Haigh pumped his fists in celebration after the judgment was handed down.
Justice Buchanan ordered the matter be heard by another judge in the trial division.
The case will return to the Supreme Court at a date to be fixed.
PAUL HAIGH
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