Queensland Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie will appeal the sentence of the man convicted of murdering Sunshine Coast teenager, Daniel Morcombe.
Serial child sex offender Brett Peter Cowan, 44, was last week found guilty of murder, the indecent treatment of a child and interfering with a corpse after being convicted by evidence obtained by an incredible sting operation in which undercover police officers extracted a confession and the location of Morcombe’s body from Cowan by pretending to be gang members. For his crimes, Cowan was sentenced to life in prison with a non-parole period of 20 years, terms Mr. Bleijie today called “manifestly inadequate”.
“The Attorney-General has advised Crown Prosecutors that he is of the view that the non-parole period that was set must be appealed because it is manifestly inadequate, is not in line with community expectations and does not set an adequate deterrent,” a statement released this morning read.
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This is a view shared by presiding Supreme Court Justice Roslyn Atkinson who strongly advised against parole of any kind indelivering Cowan’s sentence last week: “I am not of the view that you should be released in 20 years’ time…that is not in my control…whenever anyone is considering the prospect of granting you parole in the future they should mark my words that you are a convincing, plausible and adaptable liar.”
Morcombe was last seen waiting for a bus at Woombye on the Sunshine Coast on December 7, 2003. His remains were later found in the Sunshine Coast hinterland in 2011. A charity in his honour, the Daniel Morcombe Foundation, established in 2005 by his parents Bruce and Denise Morcombe, seeks to educate children on personal safety precautions and the dangers of predatory criminals.
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