My sister’s rapist murderer’s parole denied – for now

Friends, I am relieved to share that my battle to keep my sister Anne-Marie Culleton’s rapist murderer Jonathan Bakewell in jail has finally met with success – though it is only temporary.

On 7 September 2022, after a three year campaign by myself and The Advertiser – the Parole Board of South Australia finally refused Bakewell’s parole application.

This is a victory for my sister Anne-Marie, for me, for The Advertiser and for all the media who got behind me and gave me a voice.

It is also a victory for all of you who signed my petition for law reform calling for life sentencing for rapist murderers and spoke out against Bakewell’s parole release. I thank you for your support.

But it’s only a temporary reprieve because in 12 months time, Bakewell can reapply for parole and he can do this once a year, every year, for the rest of his life.

No victim family should have to fight the rapist murderers parole once … but I will have to continue to go through this again and again and this is cruel.

I’m the one that still has a life sentence.

Bakewell’s continued breaches and parole releases have taken a great toll on myself and my family. I fear for the safety of the community and I fear for my own safety as the one leading the campaign to keep Bakewell behind bars.

Bakewell is an evil, sadistic person who subjected my sister to a brutal, degrading, torturous and terrifying death. He will always be dangerous.

Bakewell broke down the back door of my sister’s flat and raped and murdered her in her bed, strangling her with her own bedsheet.

Having to relive the horror of Anne-Marie’s rape and murder to fight Bakewell’s parole feels like I am in a living nightmare which has derailed my entire life.

I did not expect to be subjected to the never-ending trauma of Bakewell repeatedly breaching parole and the Parole Board repeatedly releasing him.

As reported in The Advertiser, Supreme Court documents revealed that Bakewell had failed a further 9 nine drug tests, but my family and the public were not informed and the Parole Board of SA did not issue parole breaches. Bakewell took the same drugs three hours before he murdered Anne-Marie.

The Advertiser 7 September 2002 p7

In total Bakewell effectively breached parole 14 times and my family was only informed of 5 breaches.  This is outrageous and should not be tolerated and I am calling for an urgent review into the Parole Board processes for transparency and accountability.

To ever again release Bakewell is a form of revictimization of our family and this must end.

Friends, I am asking for your continued support to keep women and children safe.

Please contact the Attorney General of South Australia @KyamMaherMLC and ask him to oppose Bakewell ever being released. His email is AttorneyGeneral@sa.gov.au

His office number is 08 8202 7804

I do not want any more victim families to have to go through what we are going through. Hence why I am campaigning for law reform for murder with sexual assault to be made a stand alone crime, carrying a mandatory life sentence with no parole.

Please sign and share my petition for law reform on your social media.

Please follow me on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/EileenMaryCulleton/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/eileen_m_culleton/

Twitter https://twitter.com/EileenCulleton

For campaign updates on law reform for your state please see https://eileenculleton.com/law-reform/

Together we can change the laws to protect women and children.

Thank you

Eileen X

At the March 4 Justice I called for national law reform for mandatory life sentencing without parole for rapist murderers

Eileen Culleton speaking at March 4 Justice Mullumbimby Event. Photo Jeff Dawson, The Echo

I had the privilege of speaking at the March 4 Justice Mullumbimby Event on 15 March 2021. I called for national law reform for murder with sexual assault to be made a separate offence carrying a mandatory life sentence with no parole.

This was my first public speech and march calling for law reform and calling for justice for my sister Anne-Marie Culleton. I felt so encouraged and empowered.  Below is the transcript and video of my speech, along with various media coverage:

Friends, my name is Eileen Culleton and I am the sister of Anne-Marie Culleton, who at just 20 years old was raped and murdered when Jonathan Bakewell broke down her back door in the middle of the night to rape and murder her in her bed. This crime is every woman’s worst nightmare.

I am here to call for national law reform. I am here to call for the crime of murder with sexual assault to be a separate offence carrying a life sentence with no parole. I am here to call for national sentencing laws; uniform laws across the nation. Because this is true justice for victims. Because this will protect women. And because rapist murderers should never get a second chance to repeat their crime.

Rape is a gender hate crime and the crime of rape and murder is the ultimate gender hate crime of the most heinous kind. Life sentencing for the crime of murder with sexual assault will send the strongest possible message that Australia does not tolerate rape crime. And I am calling for the Prime Minister Scott Morrison to step up and show leadership and answer this call for law reform.

Jonathan Bakewell originally got a life sentence with no parole – then they changed the laws and reduced his sentence to just 20 years. 20 years is not a life sentence. A woman’s life must be valued equally to a man’s life. Which means that the sentence for a rapist murderer should be for the term of his natural life.

Bakewell was just 55 when he was released on parole. Just as dangerous. And I am petrified that he will attack again. This is my living nightmare. He’s breached parole four times yet they keep releasing him. This is my living nightmare. And this is the living nightmare of victim families around this country fighting desperately to keep rapist murderers behind bars. Fighting desperately to keep women safe. This nightmare must end.

I have a petition on change.org  Life for Rapist Murderers which I launched on the 25 November the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. And I called on the Attorney General Christian Porter to put this law reform on the national agenda of the Council of Attorney General’s meeting. I also addressed the petition to the state attorney generals.

I called on Christian Porter because he had the power to do that. And he had the mandate to that because Australia is a signatory to the United Nations Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women. And the 2018 committee report called for national legislation to fight this scourge, this national level of violence against women. We have a crisis and we need a national solution.

But Christian Porter dismissed my petition. He said it’s a matter of the states. And now, he’s on leave under a cloud of a historic rape allegation, the latest of many to rock federal parliament. And that’s why we’re here. We say enough. Women have had enough of the federal government dismissing the crime of sexual assault. It’s not a women’s issue it’s a crime.

So now I am calling on the Prime Minister Scott Morrison to step up and show leadership. To step up and call for this national law reform. The law is there to serve us, the people. And we demand justice. We demand change. We demand safety for women. We demand law reform.

Friends, please unite with me with one voice, sign my petition. Life for Rapist Murderers. It’s on Change.org. Thank you.

Here is the video of my speech:

My speech was covered by NBN News as well as the local newspapers and the Daily Telegraph. All media stories included links to my petition Life For Rapist Murderers.

The Echo 16 March 2021 p1 Read more >>
Northern Star 18 March 2021 Read more >>

I also spoke after the march to Northern Star reporter Liana Boss:

Northern Star 18 March 2021 Watch now >>
Daily Telegraph 18 March 2021 Read more >>

If you agree that we need this law reform, please sign my petition Life For Rapist Murderers and share widely with your family, friends and networks.

Together we can make law reform a reality.

Together we can make our nation safer for women and children.

Thank you.