A CONVICTED murderer and one of the state's most violent inmates, Windale's Richard Reay will be nearly 69 by the time he is first eligible for parole.
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If he ends up serving the full 30-year term in jail, a real possibility given his extensive record for explosive violence inside and out of custody and the extreme risk he currently poses to the community, then Reay will be well into his mid-70s before he is next a free man.
But Sandra Deveson, the mother of Geoffrey Fardell, who Reay murdered in mid north coast correctional centre in June, 2019, says Reay should never be released and even at that advanced age would pose a significant danger to the public.
"He definitely should have received life imprisonment," Ms Deveson told the Newcastle Herald. "I don't understand how anybody looking at his history, knowing what this guy is like that could offer any alternative suggestion, really. "If you look at his record he has attacked correctional officers, nurses, other inmates and these are unprovoked attacks on people. "He is definitely a danger to everyone."
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Reay, who for the past two decades and across two states has established an almost unparalleled reputation for random and unprovoked acts of extreme violence, mayhem and bizarre behaviour behind bars, strangled Mr Fardell in a cell at the jail, near Kempsey, between when the pair were locked into cell 234 in F-pod at 3.20pm on June 10 and when another inmate did the morning milk rounds at 6.09am on June 11.
Reay had pleaded not guilty to murder, but guilty to manslaughter and faced a two-week judge-alone trial in Port Macquarie Supreme Court in March.
He gave evidence that he was acting in self-defence when he killed Mr Fardell, who he said had attacked him over the volume of the television, a claim Justice Robert Hulme labelled "entirely implausible" when he found Reay guilty of murder.
Justice Hulme last week sentenced Reay to a maximum of 30 years in jail, with a non-parole period of 22 years and six months, making him eligible for parole in 2042 at the age of 68. The total sentence will expire when Reay is 76.
Reay - too dangerous for corrective services to unnecessarily move around - appeared in court via AVL and after hearing the sentence said to himself: "22 years, I'll be able to appeal that. At least I didn't get rubber stamped."
The term "rubber stamped" refers to being sentenced to life imprisonment and Ms Deveson said Reay was "almost laughing" at the prospect of serving 22 years.
Justice Hulme said Reay had since been moved to the High Risk Management Correctional Centre (HRMCC) at Goulburn, colloquially known as "Supermax", where he was now subject to strict conditions in a bid to reduce the risk he would violent attack inmates or staff. These restrictions include Reay being placed in a cell alone, not being left alone with female staff and always being handcuffed and escorted by three officers.
Reay had been moved to "Supermax" in May after trying to attack officers, despite being handcuffed, while in the Segregated Housing Unit (SHU) at Long Bay Correctional Centre.
Those restrictions on Reay were cold comfort and "too little too late" for Ms Deveson, who asked authorities repeatedly to explain the screening process that placed her son in a cell with one of the state's most violent inmates.
For Ms Deveson the sentence closed another chapter on the nightmare of having a son killed behind bars.
"So many people who knew Geoff said he had a heart of gold," she said. "When he was at his best he loved his family and loved catching up with people. "He had a good heart. "It is awful to think his life had been taken in this way."
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