Number of inmates denied parole surges after Luke Noormets murdered ex-partner Gerogia Lyall

The number of dangerous criminals being kept behind bars has skyrocketed after the parole board came under fire for granting early release to a former bikie who went on to murder his ex-partner. According to new figures from the Prisoners Review Board, the number of applications for parole that were denied increased from 1064 to 1489 in 2023-24, a surge of almost 40 per cent on the previous year. During the same period, the number of parole orders granted by the board dropped almost 15 per cent, from 1398 to 1189. The parole board was criticised last year after it granted early release to Luke Noormets, who then went on to murder his estranged partner Georgia Lyall just over a year later. Noormets shot Ms Lyall in her South Guildford home before returning to his house in Innaloo, turning the gun on himself and setting the house on fire. When releasing him two years early in 2021, the board deemed Noormets, a former Rebels bikie, as being an “acceptable risk to the safety of the community”. He had been jailed for seven years in 2017 for bashing and torturing a drug dealer. The board found he had “no previous history of violence” before the kidnapping — a claim later called into question after The West revealed he’d been convicted of a domestic violence incident involving another former partner in 2011. It sparked a promise from Attorney-General John Quigley to overhaul the PRB, insisting it must treat any restraining order or police order breach as a serious offence. Mr Quigley also promised that a domestic violence expert would participate in future board meetings and that all board members would undergo FDV training. That pledge came after a series of reports by The West Australian focusing on the board, including highlighting that 24 people — only one of whom, its chair Justice Jeremy Curthoys, was publicly named — were tasked with reviewing nearly 7000 cases each year. In the board’s annual report, tabled in Parliament last week, Justice Curthoys referenced Ms Lyall’s murder and acknowledged the “widespread media publicity and understandable outrage within the community”. “This has led to an increased focus on addressing family and domestic violence broadly within the community,” he said. “The number of cases where the offender has committed acts of family and domestic violence or has acts of criminal violence in his/her criminal history is particularly concerning.” Justice Curthoys also noted the 7.5 per cent increase in the number of parole orders being cancelled or suspended. “This is indicative that more parolees are breaching parole, although it is difficult to know why this is happening,” he said. “Given the effort required to make parole applications, it is difficult to know why that effort is wasted, or liable to be wasted, by parolees.” Among those denied parole in 2023-24 was Sean Wood, the first person convicted of rape in WA through the use of DNA technology in 1990, who committed further sex crimes upon his release. In 2019, he was jailed for six years for attacks on two victims, with the PRB denying his parole last year. Last month prolific paedophile Dennis John McKenna, who was the hostel warden at the Katanning Residential College where he abused 28 boys over a 12-year period in the 1970s and 80s, was also refused early release. The annual report also reveals that two murderers, whose cooperation under no-body-no-parole rules were considered for parole. However, neither of these were granted. Lifeline: 13 11 14 1800 RESPECT