25th Murderer: Julian Knight – Victims: Seven residents of Hoddle St shot dead, 19 other injured
Julian Knight (born 4 March 1968) is an Australian mass murderer. On 9 August 1987, he shot dead seven people and injured 19 during a shooting spree in Clifton Hill, Victoria, Australia, in what became known in Australian history as the Hoddle Street massacre.
Julian Knight
In 1988, Knight was sentenced seven concurrent sentences of life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 27 years. The judge who sentenced him, Justice George Hampel, stated that there were 'a number of significant mitigatory factors' and 'the fixing of a minimum term in this case is appropriate because of your age and your prospects of rehabilitation. The Crown prosecutor, Joe Dickson QC, 'did not contend that a minimum term should be fixed.
Seven Hoddle St victims
Knight currently resides in the maximum security Port Phillip Prison in Truganina, Victoria near Melbourne and was eligible for parole in 2014, until the Victorian government passed and subsequently approved of legislation which ensures that he is kept in jail until he dies, is in immediate danger of dying or is so incapacitated that he no longer poses a danger to others. Knight has appealed against such legislation numerous times, but lost his final appeal to the High Court in August 2017.
Knight, now 52, is highly unlikely to ever be released from jail. He has already served 32 years. Based on the average annual cost of Maximum Security Incarceration in 2020, should he live another 23 years to 75, his jail incarceration will have cost the Victoriantaxpayer $9.625 million circa ($175,000 p.a. X 55 years).
Questions re 25th Murderer: Julian Knight
Should the Victorian state government amend its criminal codes so that where the level of proof is Beyond Any Doubt of Guilt that the death penalty may be sentenced for malicious unprovoked murder because Justice for the Innocent Victim should be a consideration amongst the Purposes of Sentencing?
Should other states and territories similarly amend their criminal codes?
Write responses to above two questions re 25th Murderer on 'Peer Reviewer's Responses to Sentences Form' Word document