Outrage after ruthless killer Henry Hammond could be released JUST 12 months into 25-year sentence
Warning: Graphic content, readers' discretion advised
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: Henry Hammond, a 27-year-old homeless man, who brutally killed Melbourne woman Courtney Herron, 25, in May 2019 could be soon released from a mental hospital just a year after he was sent there for 25 years. Doctors at Thomas Embling Hospital want to put Henry Hammond on supervised leave so that he can be released into the community as soon as possible.
In May 2019, Hammond attacked his victim, who attended one of Melbourne's most prestigious high schools, Genazzano College, so brutally that the mortician was unable to put her mutilated body back together. In March 2020, Supreme Court of Victoria Justice Phillip Priest informed Hammond that he would be transferred from Port Phillip Prison to Thomas Embling Hospital for the next potentially 25 years, the Daily Mail reported. He also informed the community that Hammond would not be considered for early release for at least 24 months.
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Just before Christmas last year, Hammond was brutally beaten by another ''patient'' inside Thomas Embling. According to a reliable source, Hammond was hospitalized after the brutal beating, and he was then transferred to Thomas Embling's ''transition unit'' upon his return, the Daily Mail reported. It is understood that Hammond wowed staff on the unit, leading hospital officials to soften their viewpoint on temporarily releasing him back into the community with the goal of eventually releasing him completely.
On Tuesday, August 16, John Herron, Courtney's father and a criminal lawyer, lashed out at Victoria's justice system and Premier Daniel Andrews. ''I have only just discovered (and not officially) that Courtney's killer is being prepared for imminent supervised day release,'' he told the Daily Mail. 'This doesn't occur if a prisoner on a supervised order is to serve a nominal 25-year order, as said by the sentencing judge", Herron added.
''In fact, the Office of Public Prosecutors released a statement suggesting that the order could extend beyond that period ... Victoria is all about the perpetrator - there is no protection for victims and a dangerous place for young women. The Andrews regime simply doesn't care", Herron lamented.
Hammond is not the first killer to be released from Thomas Embling. Thomas Embling psychiatrists believe that reintegrating killers into society is in their best interests. With access to mobile phones and the internet, patients are free to access social media, and dating sites and even threaten the families of their victims.
Toni Coscarella, whose parents were brutally murdered by her nephew Ross Konidaris, had been called numerous times by him while he was on day release from Thomas Embling. Konidaris pleaded not guilty to the murders of his grandparents on mental health grounds and was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2014.
While high on cocaine, the paranoid schizophrenic was on unmonitored release in September 2019 when he equipped himself with a butcher knife and a pair of scissors and broke into homes and cars. Only two years after being placed in the mental institution, he was granted permission to leave on escorted outings.
Herron accused Thomas Embling of putting society in danger. ''Even more alarming, these killers and psychopaths are eased into society rapidly,'' he said. Hammond is the son of millionaire Sydney's parents. His father Murray Hammond is an investment banker. Courtney's body was found in between logs by three dog walkers in Royal Park in Parkville in May, 2019. During a nearly hour-long frenzied attack, Hammond smashed her head in.
At that time Hammond was supposed to be in prison serving a 10-month sentence for assaulting another woman in August 2018. However, a month before murdering Courtney, he was released on a Community Correction Order after successfully arguing in County Court that his imprisonment was ''manifestly excessive''. Judge John Carmody had committed him to Corrections Victoria in the hope that he could be managed and receive drug and mental health treatment. Despite the fact that Hammond had no permanent housing, Corrections Victoria had approved the order of release.
On Tuesday, August 16, Herron said, ''I can't believe he could be released without a psychiatric report in the County Court". Herron claimed that while much money had been spent to keep Hammond out of jail, none had been spent on getting him treatment for his alleged mental issues.