DAGGER TO HEART
Mum’s agony as one of trio in cop killing gets parole
THE mum of Gold Coast police officer Damian Leeding who was shot and killed while foiling a robbery is devastated one of the trio involved will tomorrow get his freedom.
Benjamin Ernest Power, jailed for manslaughter, has won parole despite Detective Senior Constable Leeding’s mother Julie Waters pleading against it.
She was told of his application on her son’s birthday calling it “another dagger through my heart”.
ONE of the evil trio involved in the killing of hero Gold Coast cop Damian Leeding is due to be freed from jail on parole this week, despite a desperate bid by the officer’s shattered mum to keep the culprit behind bars.
Detective Senior Constable Leeding was gunned down while bravely trying to foil an armed holdup at the Pacific Pines Tavern on the northern Gold Coast in May, 2011.
The highly-respected Coomera detective, a father of two young children, was shot in the face at point-blank range with a sawn-off shotgun after storming the tavern to confront the violent bandits.
He died three days later in Gold Coast Hospital, aged just 35, in a crime that shocked the nation.
The shooter, Phillip Graeme Abell, and co-accused Donna McAvoy, were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Det Sen Const Leeding.
Another accomplice, Benjamin Ernest Power, was jailed for nine years for the officer’s manslaughter and declared a serious violent offender.
He became eligible for parole in August but Det Sen Const Leeding’s mother, Julie Waters, strongly opposed Power’s bid for freedom.
She was notified of his parole application on her son’s birthday in what she described as “just another dagger through my heart”.
In a heartfelt letter to the Parole Board appealing for Power to be kept in jail, she told her how family had been “shattered and broken” since her son’s “appalling and callous” murder.
“The lives of my family changed forever the day we lost Damian and it’s had a devastating impact on all of us,” she said at the time.
“I feel like I’ve been given a life sentence too. I can’t believe he (Power) could be out of jail so soon and getting on with his life. Lucky him.”
Power failed in his first parole bid but was successful in his second application last month. He is due to be released tomorrow.
However, Ms Waters has fought for and won stringent parole conditions for Power. They include that he must wear an electronic tracking device and he is also banned from parts of southeast Queensland where Ms Waters and her family members live.
“I’d much rather he be rotting in jail than out in the community but at least some strict conditions have been imposed on him,” Ms Waters said.
“My family and I couldn’t bear to bump into him on the street and I hope the authorities keep a very close eye on him.’’