Queensland child killer could be denied right to apply for parole under strict new laws

A Queensland murderer serving life behind bars for slitting his nephew’s throat could be declared a restricted prisoner by authorities, denying him any right to apply for parole under tough new laws.

Alan William Craig was convicted and jailed after murdering his two-year-old nephew Liam outside the family’s Yandaran home, north of Bundaberg, in 2006.

He was sentenced to life after killing the toddler as he slept in a parked car during a family celebration in March 2006.

Described as the toughest parole laws in the nation, the new rules passed in December were designed to limit unnecessary trauma for victims’ families and the community caused by regular parole applications 

Under new parole laws introduced in December, the parole board president will consider declaring Craig a restricted prisoner. That declaration blocks the child killer from applying for parole for up to 10 years, with no limit on the number of bans made.

Described as the toughest parole laws in the nation, the laws passed in December were designed to limit unnecessary trauma for victims’ families and the community caused by regular parole applications.

The parole board president has the discretion to declare that specific inmates – those sentenced to life for multiple murders or for murdering a child – must not be considered for parole.

Corrective Services Minister Mark Ryan said the laws were designed to target those who kill children and those who commit multiple murders.

‘Those life-sentenced prisoners who have killed a child or committed multiple murders have no right to expect they will get parole,’ Mr Ryan told parliament in December.

‘In fact, they may never get parole.

‘And under the legislation … they may never even get to apply for parole.’

The matter will be heard on Friday.

Corrective Services Minister Mark Ryan (pictured) said the murderers ‘may never get parole’