Parole law achieves a purpose

WHEN you lose a loved one, nothing can take away that grief or pain or the sense of injustice.

Closure is not comfort, it’s the very least every family deserves and something police investigators work hard to provide.

For the family of Leeann Lapham, the police finding her body eight years after she went missing and having to finally give up the hope that one day she would return would have hurt like hell.

Graeme Colin Evans was yesterday sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment for the manslaughter of Ms Lapham.

Police believe it was the “no body, no parole” laws, introduced in August 2017, that cracked the case of the missing mum.

The Bill was sparked by the 2016 killing of 81- year- old Townsville grandmother Elizabeth Kippin, allegedly by a man who was released on parole hours earlier.

The crime shook Townsville and would shake the very foundations of the prison, parole and bail system in Queensland, and led to the biggest changes in the Queensland Corrections policy in more than a century.

Former Solicitor- General Walter Sofronoff QC was called on to conduct an in- depth review of the system, making 91 recommendations, of which the State Government committed to implementing 89.

As part of the “no body, no parole” legislation, prisoners convicted of manslaughter or murder have to reveal the location of their victims if they want parole.

There is no doubt the new laws played a part in revealing the location of Ms Lapham’s body in this case, and the victim’s mum, sister and son — who was a three- week- old baby when she disappeared — can get some closure and grieve properly.

And the family of Beth Kippin can know at least, through their pain and anger, that their unforgivable loss helped this family get the answers they so deserved and that there will be more cases like this.