FURY AS KILLER SEEKS FREEDOM
Two Welsh backpackers among victims of hostel fire
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HE deranged drifter who lit a blaze that killed 15 people, including two from Wales, has caused outrage by applying to be set free from prison.
Homeless fruit picker Robert Paul Long was jailed for life after starting a fire in the lounge of The Palace Backpackers hostel in Childers, Queensland, Australia, in June 2000.
Now – almost 20 years to the day after Merthyr Tydfil’s Natalie Morris and Sarah Williams lost their lives – the 56-year-old is appealing for parole, prompting a torrent of angry opposition online.
The two Welsh girls were among seven travellers from Britain, along with three from the Netherlands, three Australians, one from Japan and a South Korean who perished in their beds.
Kelly Symonds from Aberfan, a former school friend who’d gone abroad with Natalie and Sarah, managed to escape the inferno at the nearcentury-old converted pub after a fellow guest squeezed her through the barred window of the room in which they were sleeping.
Now another survivor – Dutchman Rob Jansen – has launched an internet petition calling for Long’s parole application to be denied.
“We, the survivors of the blaze, are trying to reach the attention of the Parole Board Queensland, to convince them that Robert Paul Long should remain behind bars and serve time for the rest of his life,” he said.
“Is Robert Paul Long ready to return to society? Is society ready for a return of Robert Paul Long? Has justice been served? The answer to all these questions is ‘no’.
“If released, just how long will it be before, given his history of violence, he harms someone else?” he added.
The petition has so far been signed by almost 15,000 people furious that Long might be released, with some commenting that the killer should “burn in Hell” and “never see daylight again”.
Long, who’d spoken of his desire to “bash a backpacker” prior to sparking the deadly blaze, spent almost a week on the run before being shot and captured following a large-scale manhunt – but not before stabbing one police officer and his patrol dog in the process.
Assuming he was going to die from the gunshot wound, he confessed to starting the fire, an admission which had to be scrawled down on a $10 bill by the arresting officer, as it was the only bit of paper to hand at the scene.
However, Long was only ever charged and convicted for the murders of two of the guests at the hostel, Australian twins Kelly and Stacey Slarke.
It is thought the authorities only pursued a couple of murder charges at the time in order to speed up the legal process and to ensure Long could still be indicted with the other deaths should he be acquitted – a common practice in certain parts of Australia at the time.
In 2006 an inquest into the deaths also revealed that emergency exits at the hostel had been obstructed by bunk beds, doors and windows were nailed closed or barred, fire alarms weren’t operational and, with 80 guests inside on the night of the fire, the premises was overcrowded.
Nevertheless, the Queensland coroner said the operators of the hostel should not face criminal charges, despite the clear safety failings.
Earlier this week, Queensland’s parole board confirmed it had received Long’s application, but added that no date had yet been set or decision made regarding a hearing.