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Courtney Herron’s father says her killer could be allowed out on supervised day visits

Hamish SpenceNCA NewsWire
Not Supplied
Camera IconNot Supplied Credit: Supplied

A man who brutally beat a 25-year-old woman to death with a tree branch could soon be allowed to walk among the public, according to the victim’s aggrieved father.

Homeless man Henry Hammond killed Courtney Herron in Melbourne’s Royal Park on May 25, 2019, with police later finding her beaten body under a pile of branches.

Courtney Herron was killed at Royal Park in Melbourne in 2019.
Camera IconCourtney Herron was killed at Royal Park in Melbourne in 2019. Credit: Supplied
Courtney’s father has spoken out.
Camera IconCourtney’s father has spoken out. Credit: Supplied

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Hammond was found not guilty of murdering her in March of last year by Victoria’s Supreme Court because of a mental illness due to schizophrenia.

He was committed to a secure state-run psychiatric hospital, where he was ordered to spend the next 25 years.

But Courtney’s father John Herron says Hammond could soon be allowed to leave Thomas Embling Hospital on supervised day visits.

Mr Herron said as a criminal lawyer the news did not surprise him “at all” and it followed “the order of the day” in Victoria.

“They refer it to, the Andrews government, as restorative justice,” he told the Today show on Wednesday.

“What that means is processing these killers out onto the street as quickly as possible. There is limited treatment, if anything at all.

“The day trips are quite alarming because generally they are in parklands and around Fairfield in Melbourne where children play.

“Some of these people have killed children or multiple people in the most horrific circumstances.”

Thomas Embling Hospital is located in Fairfield near local parkland and the Yarra River.

Mr Herron said the practice of allowing convicted killers to be out in public was a regular occurrence in the system and needed to be stopped.

“This is not uncommon,” he said.

“I know of one extremely brutal killer that is walking around these parks, supervised of course, right now.

John Herron
Camera IconJohn Herron has learnt his daughter's killer could be allowed out on supervised day visits. Alex Coppel Credit: News Corp Australia

“Some are given mobile phones to harass their victims from the facility itself.

“It is again incomprehensible this is allowed. This is no treatment for these people. Again, it is just a fast-track to get them out on the streets.”

Mr Herron said the public, media and police were often not aware of these arrangements due to suppression orders.

The emotional father said the news only added to the grief he dealt with every day over his daughter’s death.

Parkville Presser
Camera IconPeople lay flowers at the site in Parkville where Ms Herron was found dead. Mark Stewart Credit: News Corp Australia

“It is very difficult to process the death of a child,” Mr Herron said.

“It is continual every day. I get strength from a lot of people, but part of the strength I get is helping others in the same situation.”

Forensicare, Victoria‘s leading provider of adult mental health services for people involved in the criminal justice system, said any decision to grant community leave was a “gradual, rigorous and carefully considered process”.

“When a person is placed on a Custodial Supervision Order under the Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act 1997 at Thomas Embling Hospital – a secure psychiatric hospital - they can apply for community leave as part of their rehabilitation process,” it said.

“The decision to grant community leave is a gradual, rigorous and carefully considered process determined and made by the Forensic Leave Panel, an independent body from Forensicare which is chaired by a Judge. Decisions by the panel are informed by the clinical advice of the person‘s treating team.”

The Victorian Department of Justice and Corrections Victoria were contacted for comment.

Originally published as Courtney Herron’s father says her killer could be allowed out on supervised day visits

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