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

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