Confirmation of compensation payments and sentence reductions being awarded to prisoners during COVID-19 is a kick in the guts to Victorians struggling through their sixth lockdown.
Government documents detail at least 13 cases of inmates receiving compensation payments from the State Government since the start of 2020.
Claims against the State of Victoria that were awarded to prisoners are generally the result of assault or injury within prisons. In one case, Glen Remilton, in jail for armed robbery, received compensation after being kicked while milking a cow.
Some of the most high-profile offenders being awarded damages include:
- Jonathan Horrocks, who shot and killed Leon Capraro at a La Trobe University bar in 1999,
- Luke Wentholt, who bashed and murdered Irish backpacker David Greene in 2012,
- Underworld killer Tomislav Ivanovic,
- Former quarantine officer convicted of bribery, Erol Ibrahim, and;
- Lewis Basse, who was charged with rape, assault, false imprisonment, recklessly causing serious injury, theft, and making threats to kill.
Neither the individual or total amounts of damages paid are disclosed, however previous payment made under the scheme have been up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
These compensation payments follow recent confirmation that 5,285 sentenced prisoners received more than 165,000 days off their sentences to June 30 2021, an average sentence reduction of 31 days per inmate.
Daniel Andrews is guilty of covering up the skyrocketing costs and worsening performance of our prisons – meaning Victorians are paying more and more, just to see hardened criminals back on the street.
Comments attributable to Shadow Minister for Corrections David Southwick
“With dozens of compensation payouts and weeks cut from criminal’s sentences, the only ones coming out ahead of COVID-19 are Victorian prisoners.”
“Daniel Andrews has no plan to fix his broken jails, just a plan to waste more taxpayer money on a system that is not working.
“Victoria needs a new plan to keep our community safe and provide genuine opportunities for offenders to get on the right path.”
