Latest / Real Crime with Adam Shand / The Parole of a Monster: Twenty Years Later | Lauren Huxley

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The Parole of a Monster: Twenty Years Later | Lauren Huxley · Real Crime with Adam Shand

0:05
Speaker 1: Apoche production.
0:14
Speaker 2: Welcome to Real Crime with Adam Shand I'm Your Host
0:16
Speaker 2: Adam Shand. Parole for violent remorseless offenders is increasingly under scrutiny.
0:23
Speaker 2: Once upon a time, nearly all inmates were released into
0:26
Speaker 2: the community, often to reoffend.
0:28
Speaker 3: The New South Wales community outrage grows over violent offenders
0:32
Speaker 3: being released.
0:33
Speaker 4: On parole now.
0:35
Speaker 2: Fortunately, community standards have changed and hardened, and more applications
0:40
Speaker 2: are being denied. Some files are being marked never to
0:45
Speaker 2: be released. A monster named Robert Black Farmer is one
0:50
Speaker 2: such individual. Do I believe has forfeited his right to
0:53
Speaker 2: return to society.
0:55
Speaker 3: A brutal attack on Sydney home leaves eighteen year old
0:59
Speaker 3: clinging to life.
1:01
Speaker 2: In November two thousand and five, Farmer, while on bail
1:04
Speaker 2: for other violent offenses and also on parole, randomly selected
1:09
Speaker 2: eighteen year old Lauren Huxley for a senseless and terrifying attack.
1:14
Speaker 2: Lauren was home alone at her family residence in Sydney
1:17
Speaker 2: when Farmer struck. He tied Lauren up, brutally beat her,
1:22
Speaker 2: doused her in petrol and left her for dead before
1:26
Speaker 2: setting fire to the home. It was a crime that
1:31
Speaker 2: shocked Australia.
1:33
Speaker 5: A house set alight after a savage assault. The victim
1:37
Speaker 5: was discovered inside the burning garage. Emergency crews say survival
1:42
Speaker 5: chances were almost zero.
1:46
Speaker 2: And it was a miracle that she survived, and it's
1:48
Speaker 2: been a long and challenging road to recovery. Now twenty
1:53
Speaker 2: years into a twenty four year prison term, Farmer is
1:57
Speaker 2: technically eligible for parole this year in July, and Lauren
2:02
Speaker 2: and her family are dealing with the possibility that this
2:05
Speaker 2: unrepentant and dangerous germ may have another shot at freedom.
2:10
Speaker 3: Family braces as offenders parole date approaches. Survivor Lauren Huxley
2:15
Speaker 3: says she fears for community safety.
2:18
Speaker 2: If the system works, Farmer should never win his freedom.
2:23
Speaker 2: He has never accepted the blame for what he did
2:26
Speaker 2: and has shown no remorse. He's not used his time
2:30
Speaker 2: in prison productively. He's undergone no training or education in jail.
2:34
Speaker 2: He shows no sign of wanting to return as a
2:37
Speaker 2: productive member of society.
2:40
Speaker 3: The court told that the attacker showed no remorse and
2:43
Speaker 3: refused to accept responsibility.
2:46
Speaker 2: But ultimately the system will decide to discuss this and
2:51
Speaker 2: the impact on the family. I'm joined by Lauren at
2:54
Speaker 2: her sister Simone. Ladies, welcome to real crime.
2:59
Speaker 1: Hi Adam, thank you for having us on today.
3:01
Speaker 2: Absolute pleasure. Simone. Now you two almost like twins, two
3:04
Speaker 2: years ten months apart, and you've had to suffer the
3:10
Speaker 2: consequences of that day in two thousand and five together
3:13
Speaker 2: but also in different ways.
3:16
Speaker 4: How are you traveling, Samoon? First?
3:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, you know it's been twenty years, but
3:23
Speaker 1: you're still reliving the trauma all these years on, especially
3:26
Speaker 1: now that the perpetrator has come out for parole. But
3:29
Speaker 1: it never leaves you. You know, we just had to
3:31
Speaker 1: learn how to get on with life as specific could
3:34
Speaker 1: in supporting Lauren moving forward with her recovery. But you've
3:37
Speaker 1: just got to take, you know, what you can in
3:39
Speaker 1: life and look forward to the positives. And I think
3:41
Speaker 1: that's what Lauren, in particularly but also my family have
3:45
Speaker 1: done and always you know, shown that we want to
3:48
Speaker 1: move forward. We have a lot of love together as
3:50
Speaker 1: a family and I think that really got us through
3:52
Speaker 1: our darkest times.
3:55
Speaker 4: Yeah.
3:55
Speaker 2: I think your family is quite inspirational and in a
3:58
Speaker 2: way represents the common good folk of Australia. You know,
4:04
Speaker 2: you're not perfect. You've had your moments going through this
4:06
Speaker 2: whole issue, but you've stuck fast, You've stayed the course.
4:11
Speaker 2: That's been a tremendous support, I'm sure for you, Lauren.
4:14
Speaker 6: Yes, of course, having with my family by my side
4:18
Speaker 6: and you know, all the support thank giving me, it's
4:21
Speaker 6: made such a difference.
4:23
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know what I would have
4:24
Speaker 1: done without them, you know.
4:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, because I'm not going to say you were fortunate,
4:30
Speaker 2: but in some ways you were spared the worst of
4:33
Speaker 2: this because you had anesia that lasted for months. You
4:35
Speaker 2: remember nothing of the attack by Farmer, nothing of the
4:39
Speaker 2: lead up at all.
4:40
Speaker 6: No, I do not remember that day, and I had
4:43
Speaker 6: three months post traumatic amnesia, which I can't I can't recall,
4:49
Speaker 6: you know, the experience I endured and everything, you know,
4:52
Speaker 6: which I'm so thankful for because I would hate to
4:54
Speaker 6: have to relive that traumatic experience that I went through.
4:59
Speaker 2: And at the same time, Simon, your sister didn't have
5:03
Speaker 2: the amnesia.
5:04
Speaker 4: She's I had to go through it.
5:05
Speaker 2: And I've noticed over the years reading the media, she's
5:08
Speaker 2: often been the one that's jumped out in front of
5:09
Speaker 2: the media and told the story. Can you see how
5:13
Speaker 2: it's affected her?
5:15
Speaker 6: Yeah, my family, they've gone Yeah, well, I can't actually
5:19
Speaker 6: say what how they feel, because I mean I that
5:24
Speaker 6: you've watched us obviously go through a different type of trauma. Yeah,
5:27
Speaker 6: it obviously happened to you, but obviously Mum and dad
5:30
Speaker 6: and myself we had to watch you go through it,
5:33
Speaker 6: which was incredibly heartbreaking. Yeah, you know, you're my best
5:36
Speaker 6: friend and my only sibling, and it destroyed Mum and
5:42
Speaker 6: Dad and myself just not knowing of you know, what
5:45
Speaker 6: your future was going to be, if at all, you know,
5:48
Speaker 6: we didn't know, of course, And I am so thankful.
5:51
Speaker 6: I'm so grateful and thankful for everything, you know, everything
5:54
Speaker 6: that everyone has done for me along the way. You know,
5:59
Speaker 6: I'm just so relieved to be alive, you know so much.
6:04
Speaker 1: You know's a miracle.
6:05
Speaker 6: I had to walk talk at eight at the age
6:08
Speaker 6: of nineteen. This happened when I was eighteen, but my
6:11
Speaker 6: birthday's in December, so with everything going on, by the
6:15
Speaker 6: time I was able to get up and move around,
6:20
Speaker 6: I was nineteen. It was like watching a baby bee reborn,
6:23
Speaker 6: really just doing the simple things that we will take
6:26
Speaker 6: for granted in life, and watching her through her struggles.
6:30
Speaker 6: It was really difficult for us to watch as a
6:33
Speaker 6: family but we we had to be there for each other,
6:36
Speaker 6: and we had our moments and times of breaking down
6:39
Speaker 6: because you know, it was we couldn't believe that this
6:42
Speaker 6: was happening to our family. We were just a normal,
6:44
Speaker 6: aussy family going about our day that day. Lauren was
6:48
Speaker 6: at eighteen, you know, a vivacious young woman with her
6:50
Speaker 6: whole life ahead of her.
6:52
Speaker 1: I was twenty one at the time. Mom and Dad,
6:55
Speaker 1: you know, hard working people that they are, and yeah,
6:58
Speaker 1: you just you go to work that day and you
7:01
Speaker 1: come home and your whole world is just turned upside
7:03
Speaker 1: down with your house being set on fire, and then
7:06
Speaker 1: obviously the devastating news are received of you know, Lauren's
7:11
Speaker 1: been attacked, and it was just it was just incomprehensible
7:16
Speaker 1: to even understand or fathom why and what and how
7:20
Speaker 1: who would do this to my sister. She was so innocent,
7:24
Speaker 1: you know, so kind and caring and had a lot
7:27
Speaker 1: of friends and not an enemy in the world. Just
7:30
Speaker 1: you know, it was really tough in the early days,
7:33
Speaker 1: and particularly I think.
7:34
Speaker 2: Some of the best family fights happened at Christmas. Your
7:38
Speaker 2: family was no exception.
7:39
Speaker 4: There.
7:40
Speaker 2: Lauren's in hospital, You're there with your mum and dad,
7:43
Speaker 2: you get into a blue with them and it's it's
7:45
Speaker 2: all on tell that story, I think, I think. But
7:48
Speaker 2: that was coming back to see Lauren after that, where
7:51
Speaker 2: I guess the cohesion was really cemented, if you like.
7:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, So Christmas was only not even eight weeks after
7:59
Speaker 1: Lauren's attack. Her birthday is Christmas Eve, so we went
8:03
Speaker 1: to celebrate her birthday. She doesn't remember that, but we
8:06
Speaker 1: wanted to be around her on that day, and then
8:08
Speaker 1: we went to see her on Christmas morning and it
8:11
Speaker 1: just I think it was just the reality then of wow,
8:14
Speaker 1: like this is real, this is actually happening to our family,
8:16
Speaker 1: and it's just so foreign and traumatic and stressful, you know,
8:22
Speaker 1: all the things, and we just all keep breaking point.
8:26
Speaker 1: You know, we should have been spending Christmas together with
8:28
Speaker 1: family and friends, and we weren't. You know, my beautiful
8:31
Speaker 1: sister I was laying in brain injury unit fighting to recover.
8:36
Speaker 1: So once we went to see her in the morning,
8:38
Speaker 1: we came back to the apartment that we were staying
8:41
Speaker 1: in because we couldn't even go back to our family
8:42
Speaker 1: home because it would have been burnt. And that was
8:45
Speaker 1: stressful in itself. So we were very fortunate. The community
8:48
Speaker 1: really rallied around Lauren and my family, and our local
8:52
Speaker 1: church was cooking meals for us every day for six months,
8:55
Speaker 1: and they drop it to the hospital, which was so kind,
8:58
Speaker 1: because the simple things when you're going through all this,
9:00
Speaker 1: you forget to eat. So they made us a beautiful
9:03
Speaker 1: Christmas lunch and we all went back to eat it,
9:06
Speaker 1: and then we all just lost it with each other.
9:08
Speaker 1: It was just there was too much. The pressure and
9:11
Speaker 1: this stress was too much. So we all end up
9:13
Speaker 1: in an argument, and we all end up in our
9:16
Speaker 1: different corners of the house. I remember going on the
9:18
Speaker 1: front steps and eating my beautiful prawns, crying into my food.
9:23
Speaker 1: It was horrible, but we realized that, you know, once
9:27
Speaker 1: we had our moment and our breakdown, we need to
9:29
Speaker 1: get it together because we wanted to go back and
9:30
Speaker 1: see Lauren in the afternoon, and we did. We picked
9:33
Speaker 1: ourselves up, We cried and hugged, and we went back
9:37
Speaker 1: to see her. And that was important. That was an
9:40
Speaker 1: important thing for us to stick together to help Lauren,
9:44
Speaker 1: but also be there to help each other.
9:47
Speaker 2: I'm sure for you, Simon, there must have been moments
9:50
Speaker 2: where you thought to yourself, this could have been me.
9:52
Speaker 2: It might have been me at home that day on
9:54
Speaker 2: my own and Farmer could have selected me.
9:58
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know, I always have that guilt that
10:02
Speaker 1: I wasn't there to protect my little sister. I actually
10:06
Speaker 1: had the opportunity to leave work early that day and
10:09
Speaker 1: I just recently started a new job and I didn't
10:11
Speaker 1: have any clients in the afternoon, and I could have
10:14
Speaker 1: you left, and I thought, no, I need to know
10:16
Speaker 1: Sean Keene. And anyway, I ended up getting clients booked in. Sorry,
10:18
Speaker 1: I stayed. And I still regret that to this day
10:22
Speaker 1: that I could have been there to possibly protect her. Then,
10:24
Speaker 1: I mean, it could have also been both of us
10:27
Speaker 1: been attacked, but I still, you know, I still feel that, Yeah,
10:32
Speaker 1: I had that guilt that I wasn't there to protect
10:35
Speaker 1: my little sister that day, which, you know, something that
10:37
Speaker 1: still haunts me.
10:39
Speaker 2: There were a couple of miracles that day that you survived, Lauren,
10:43
Speaker 2: But also the reason why was because of the quick
10:47
Speaker 2: thinking of a constable Danny Ead, who saw Lauren's body
10:51
Speaker 2: still alive in the garage.
10:53
Speaker 4: Of the house.
10:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, Danny was incredible. Obviously, the house had been set
10:59
Speaker 1: on fire, and the firefighters went in and did their
11:02
Speaker 1: bit and checked the house and put the wire out.
11:06
Speaker 1: Danny walked around the back of the house and our
11:09
Speaker 1: garage wasn't attached to the house, and that's where Lauren
11:12
Speaker 1: was guarded by our two little dogs. And he thought
11:16
Speaker 1: somebody's here because there was a basket of washing, which
11:21
Speaker 1: he thought, why would someone get close off the line
11:23
Speaker 1: and not bring them in. Thankfully, I was a lazy
11:25
Speaker 1: twenty one year old at the time, and mum and
11:28
Speaker 1: got the close off the line and said, simoone, I'm
11:29
Speaker 1: not bringing them in, you bring them in. So I
11:31
Speaker 1: went for a run that morning, I came home, I
11:34
Speaker 1: got the clothes out of the basket and I ran
11:36
Speaker 1: inside to go get have a shower and get changed,
11:38
Speaker 1: and I left the basket there, and I'm so grateful
11:40
Speaker 1: that I did, because he just assumed somebody was there.
11:43
Speaker 1: So then that drew him to the back of the
11:45
Speaker 1: garage door, and that's when he went in and saw
11:49
Speaker 1: what he thought at the time was a mannequin laying
11:51
Speaker 1: there very still, with our two dogs by her side.
11:55
Speaker 1: So then that's when he went to go and call
11:58
Speaker 1: back up. Then thankfully there was a paramedic on stand
12:01
Speaker 1: by two and so they just once they found Lauren,
12:05
Speaker 1: you know, fighting for her life. Literally, they all stepped
12:08
Speaker 1: into action and was absolutely incredible. And we cannot think
12:12
Speaker 1: the first responders in particularly enough for what they did
12:16
Speaker 1: that day for Lauren.
12:17
Speaker 2: Because this story is frozen at that time two thousand
12:22
Speaker 2: and five in most people's minds in Australia, twenty years
12:26
Speaker 2: almost twenty one years has passed. He spent all that
12:30
Speaker 2: time in jail, and now I guess when you look
12:35
Speaker 2: at a sentence like that, twenty four years, it seems
12:37
Speaker 2: like distant in the future day he might come out,
12:41
Speaker 2: But now it's theoretically almost upon you. Lauren, how do
12:46
Speaker 2: you feel about this person who is a stranger to you?
12:49
Speaker 2: You don't even though he did this, you don't know
12:52
Speaker 2: who he is. How do you feel about him?
12:56
Speaker 6: I am quite concerned and are worried. I don't want
13:03
Speaker 6: to see him ever again. You can't blame me like
13:06
Speaker 6: you know. It's nearly killed me as he was charged
13:09
Speaker 6: with attempted murder. But I'm concerned and worried really, and.
13:15
Speaker 2: I'm sure you've got lots of questions about what will
13:17
Speaker 2: happen from here. Have you been adequately dealt with by
13:20
Speaker 2: the authorities to be informed? About the process and the
13:24
Speaker 2: likelihood of him actually gaining parole.
13:27
Speaker 1: So my mom and dad and myself have been in
13:30
Speaker 1: contact with the Victims Support Unit. Lauren doesn't want anything
13:33
Speaker 1: to do with that, which is totally fair enough. Nor
13:36
Speaker 1: does she come to the Cork case because it was
13:37
Speaker 1: just too much for her, which is completely understandable. So, yeah,
13:41
Speaker 1: to answer your question, we have been in contact with
13:43
Speaker 1: the Victims Support Unit to basically, you know, update us
13:47
Speaker 1: of what is happening and what is the process, because
13:50
Speaker 1: obviously it's such a foreign thing to our family. We
13:52
Speaker 1: don't understand this side of things. So they basically told
13:56
Speaker 1: us that he will be eligible for parole on the
13:59
Speaker 1: thirty first of July. The parole Board will meet at
14:03
Speaker 1: the end of May and have a private hearing, and
14:05
Speaker 1: then we can put submissions in for them to obviously
14:08
Speaker 1: consider reasons being why we think that strongly that he
14:12
Speaker 1: should be still serving the remainder of his time and
14:17
Speaker 1: rightly so, and then it will go to the public
14:19
Speaker 1: hearing and we will know present our case as well.
14:24
Speaker 4: Yeah.
14:24
Speaker 2: I think it's a baffling and scary time for the
14:28
Speaker 2: families of victims and the victims themselves, and I sensed
14:32
Speaker 2: in our chat early on we've been speaking for a
14:34
Speaker 2: couple of weeks now that you needed some assistance. So
14:36
Speaker 2: I did organize my lovely son in law, Tangy Malamboe
14:40
Speaker 2: of Samby Legal, to take you through some of the
14:43
Speaker 2: aspects of parole. What was the discussion. I've been a
14:45
Speaker 2: chance to debrief with him. What was the discussion.
14:48
Speaker 1: Yeah, thank you for recommending to Tank you to have
14:50
Speaker 1: a chat with us. We're very grateful for that opportunity.
14:53
Speaker 1: Basically just was talking us through the process of what
14:56
Speaker 1: to expect next, you know, how it all will unfold.
15:00
Speaker 1: Then we went to see the Victims Support you know,
15:02
Speaker 1: and they pretty much said everything that Tangy had told
15:05
Speaker 1: me on the phone, which is just you know, what
15:08
Speaker 1: his rights are. I guess if his parole gets snopped back,
15:12
Speaker 1: he won't be able to apply for another year. He
15:15
Speaker 1: can appeal though, and one thing that surprised me when
15:18
Speaker 1: I spoke to the Victims Support unit was you know,
15:21
Speaker 1: he can actually appeal if his parole is revoked. And
15:25
Speaker 1: I said, well, can Lauren appeal if he gets greintered parole?
15:28
Speaker 1: And no, unfortunately that's not the case, which is quite
15:31
Speaker 1: you know there's a lot to say about the system.
15:34
Speaker 2: Well, I think it's scary in the sense that when
15:36
Speaker 2: you realize when you go to the court system, there's
15:39
Speaker 2: no one representing the family or the victim in the
15:42
Speaker 2: court trial, in the parole, all these types of things,
15:46
Speaker 2: and I think it's very alienating. And I don't blame you, Lauren,
15:49
Speaker 2: for not wanting to be there during his trial to
15:52
Speaker 2: see him get up on the stand, which was unusual
15:55
Speaker 2: in itself, and to profess his innocence when there was
15:59
Speaker 2: DNA evidence all over the scene which put him there,
16:03
Speaker 2: and his own post offense actions clearly demonstrated he'd done
16:09
Speaker 2: something terrible. He made that confession to a friend without
16:12
Speaker 2: saying what he'd done. To witness that performance would be
16:17
Speaker 2: retraumatizing in a way that I couldn't imagine.
16:21
Speaker 4: For both of you.
16:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, it definitely was, and that's why we wanted to
16:25
Speaker 1: protect Lauren as best as we could with not having
16:29
Speaker 1: her to hear in great detail what exactly this perpetrated
16:33
Speaker 1: to her. It was hard enough for my family and
16:36
Speaker 1: myself to sit there for a sixpek trial and hear
16:39
Speaker 1: the evidence uninvolved, So Lauren, she didn't need to come.
16:43
Speaker 1: She wrote out her victim impact statement and I delivered
16:45
Speaker 1: it to the court on her behalf, which was hard,
16:49
Speaker 1: but I did it for my sister. She needed to
16:51
Speaker 1: have her voice heard, which was really important. So once
16:55
Speaker 1: he was then found guilty, I said to Lauren, you know,
16:59
Speaker 1: maybe you should come to court to see here the sentencing.
17:03
Speaker 1: And she was quite reluctant at the time, obviously because
17:05
Speaker 1: she was worried that he was going to see her.
17:07
Speaker 1: And I said, no, people will not be turning around
17:10
Speaker 1: to look at the gallery, let me tell you. And so, yeah,
17:12
Speaker 1: so Lauren came in and it was hard because there
17:15
Speaker 1: was a bit of evidence that would obviously, you know,
17:17
Speaker 1: being summarized by the judge in order to have the
17:21
Speaker 1: ruling of his sentencing. And yeah, at times it did
17:24
Speaker 1: get too much. Do you remember, Laus, It was a
17:26
Speaker 1: bit you know, you had your head and yet lap
17:28
Speaker 1: at a time. I know it was it was hard,
17:31
Speaker 1: but I think that, you know, I thought I didn't
17:33
Speaker 1: want her to regret not doing that, and I think
17:37
Speaker 1: that you were thankful in the end that you did
17:39
Speaker 1: come that day. At times, yeah, like I said, she
17:42
Speaker 1: had ahead in a lap and then I was just
17:44
Speaker 1: making a joke, you know, with there, trying to take
17:46
Speaker 1: a mind of it, saying, you know, he falling asleep
17:48
Speaker 1: or what.
17:48
Speaker 6: And because at that time I was still undergoing operations,
17:52
Speaker 6: you were, you're still having treatment, and it was a lot,
17:55
Speaker 6: so sometimes she'd to go through Still, Yeah, she'd walk
17:58
Speaker 6: out of court and I obviously follow there to comfort her.
18:01
Speaker 1: But you know, I think that was a powerful moment,
18:03
Speaker 1: having her be in the press in standing strong after
18:07
Speaker 1: what everything she had endured and gone through. It was
18:11
Speaker 1: just I guess inclosure like closure in a way. But yeah,
18:14
Speaker 1: I was super proud of her for being there that day.
18:19
Speaker 2: To not look in his face, but least to not
18:22
Speaker 2: be intimidated by his presence there someone who had shown
18:27
Speaker 2: you no respect, no remorse, not even to admit that
18:31
Speaker 2: he'd done it. And when you heard the sentence, he
18:34
Speaker 2: was found guilty of attempted murder, grievous bodily harm, another
18:37
Speaker 2: five different charges. What did you think when you heard
18:41
Speaker 2: the sentence twenty four years with a non parole period
18:44
Speaker 2: of twenty years, Lauren.
18:47
Speaker 1: Oh, I was relieved.
18:49
Speaker 6: You know a lot of family friends say you should
18:52
Speaker 6: have got life, but you know what, I'm thankful for
18:56
Speaker 6: the sentencing that he did get because you know, there
19:00
Speaker 6: are people out there that get less, and we're all
19:04
Speaker 6: very thankful for it.
19:06
Speaker 1: Yeah, in my opinion, that would never be enough. But
19:09
Speaker 1: at the same time, we were grateful for you know,
19:12
Speaker 1: the maximum penalty he could receive at that time. Definitely.
19:15
Speaker 1: I've always said, you know, he got twenty four and
19:18
Speaker 1: a half years, essentially twenty years on parole, and Lauren
19:21
Speaker 1: and my family got life.
19:23
Speaker 6: Yeah, because you know what, I've got all these injuries.
19:26
Speaker 6: I've got scars all over my body. I've got a
19:29
Speaker 6: bald spot, which I'll always have for the rest of
19:31
Speaker 6: my life, right, and I have to just deal with
19:34
Speaker 6: that because you know, and need to happen. But at
19:37
Speaker 6: the same time, I'm still so thankful to still be
19:40
Speaker 6: alive and be able to do simple things in life
19:43
Speaker 6: like talk, walk, eat, you know.
19:45
Speaker 1: Things we take for granted. You know, see here, simple
19:49
Speaker 1: things like that.
19:50
Speaker 6: You know, even I'm able to drive my car and
19:54
Speaker 6: travel overseas, you know, retain a job.
19:58
Speaker 1: There's so many things, and I think that's always nice.
20:01
Speaker 1: Like I said, Lauren's always had such a positive attitude
20:04
Speaker 1: in her recovery, and I think that's really what's helped
20:06
Speaker 1: her get through it and helped us at the same
20:08
Speaker 1: time keep moving forward. Yeah, definitely.
20:11
Speaker 2: Yeah. I try to be objective about these things in
20:13
Speaker 2: my podcast, ladies, But when I hear you talking and
20:18
Speaker 2: you realize that, yes, he was found guilty of attempted murder,
20:22
Speaker 2: but the fact that it wasn't murder was simply because
20:24
Speaker 2: you had a hero that saved you, Danny Eid it
20:27
Speaker 2: would have been murder. So I mean part of me
20:29
Speaker 2: just says, yes, never to be released, at least until
20:34
Speaker 2: you express some sort of remorse, some sort of insight
20:38
Speaker 2: into what you've done.
20:40
Speaker 1: Absolutely, you know, it's still hard to fathom that he
20:43
Speaker 1: has never shown any contrition or guilt, held any accountability
20:47
Speaker 1: for obviously for what he did that day, never apologized.
20:51
Speaker 1: You know, he took so much away from Lauren and
20:54
Speaker 1: my family. Yeah, five years of my life. I was
20:57
Speaker 1: having operation yeah twelve, our servitory, after twelve our surgery
21:00
Speaker 1: to reconstruct her face. We're so fortunate to live in
21:03
Speaker 1: the country with these most incredible nurses and doctors. Yeah, definitely,
21:06
Speaker 1: and their you know, their love and care was next
21:08
Speaker 1: to none. But you know, it's still hard to harphel
21:12
Speaker 1: to swallow really to think that this person could be
21:15
Speaker 1: eligible to walk the streets again when he has had
21:18
Speaker 1: no he doesn't care for what he did his crime.
21:22
Speaker 1: He just he just doesn't hasn't shown anything. He didn't
21:25
Speaker 1: admit to guilt, not a thing. Yeah, he was a
21:28
Speaker 1: career criminal. He was on bail and parole when he
21:30
Speaker 1: attacked my sister. So how we could let this person
21:34
Speaker 1: out again before his time, you know, his full sentence
21:38
Speaker 1: is beyond me. The fact that he hasn't even come
21:42
Speaker 1: up for day release. It's hard to comprehend that he
21:46
Speaker 1: could actually then possibly get parole. So he hasn't even
21:49
Speaker 1: been out in the community to you know, try to
21:52
Speaker 1: reintegrate to you know, twenties is a long time to
21:56
Speaker 1: be you know on the inside. Yeah, it baffles me
21:59
Speaker 1: how this can even be happening.
22:01
Speaker 2: Well, he hasn't tried to better himself in any way,
22:05
Speaker 2: which is normally a prerequisitive parole that people are trying
22:08
Speaker 2: to have insight into their offending.
22:10
Speaker 4: And I mean that's one of.
22:11
Speaker 2: The baffling, maddening things that I'm sure traumatic things for
22:14
Speaker 2: your family is the absence of a motive. If you
22:17
Speaker 2: could understand that he'd seen Lauren before or knew somebody
22:20
Speaker 2: who knew her or cut off in the traffic or something.
22:23
Speaker 2: You know, you'd be able to begin the process of
22:26
Speaker 2: rationalizing it and accommodating that truth in your life. But
22:29
Speaker 2: to have he is literally a monster in your mind, I.
22:32
Speaker 6: Think, Lauren, Yes, yes, definitely, he'll always be a monster.
22:39
Speaker 1: After what I've gone through, and.
22:42
Speaker 6: You know what I have to live with now, you
22:45
Speaker 6: know these scars and the injuries that I have.
22:49
Speaker 1: Like I said, that's a life sentence for Lauren. That's
22:51
Speaker 1: her reality, it is, and then we have people to
22:54
Speaker 1: put what her life is worth for what this person
22:56
Speaker 1: did to her, and how long he should actually stay
22:59
Speaker 1: where he needs to be. It's not easy thing to
23:02
Speaker 1: deal with.
23:03
Speaker 4: It's really not.
23:04
Speaker 2: And Lauren has had the physical and psychological injuries that
23:09
Speaker 2: she still suffers with. You have that as well, simone would.
23:14
Speaker 2: Your family was dealt a moral and psychological injury. You
23:17
Speaker 2: struggle with it as well. You're a young woman, just
23:19
Speaker 2: like Lauren was then, and it has not been easy
23:22
Speaker 2: for you. Tell us about your journey.
23:25
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was, definitely. It hasn't been the easy journey,
23:27
Speaker 1: that's for sure. I was obviously, like I said, twenty
23:30
Speaker 1: one at a time, and you know, my world also
23:33
Speaker 1: came crumbling down, and it was just such a it
23:37
Speaker 1: was just such a traumatic thing to go through. And
23:39
Speaker 1: there's still days that I think, twenty years on, I
23:41
Speaker 1: still pinch myself. I think, did that happen to our family?
23:44
Speaker 1: You know, it's just it's just so surreal, and it's
23:47
Speaker 1: so sill to be even talking to you today about
23:49
Speaker 1: you know, what we went through, because we were just
23:51
Speaker 1: you know, young ladies, you know, adults going through our lives.
23:55
Speaker 1: We used to still fight over clothes and talk about
23:59
Speaker 1: boys and go on holidays together to foster family holidays
24:02
Speaker 1: we used to go and you know, we're just living
24:04
Speaker 1: our best life lives. Then it just it all changed
24:07
Speaker 1: an instant. You know, that day forever changed the direction
24:10
Speaker 1: of our lives. Obviously, Lawrence, in particularly, I do struggle.
24:15
Speaker 1: I have struggled and I still do to this day
24:17
Speaker 1: with PTSD. Watching someone you love fight for their life.
24:23
Speaker 1: It was it was just so hard, you know, it
24:28
Speaker 1: was just so hard to watch you know, her lay
24:31
Speaker 1: there just so you know, defenseless and just siding. I
24:36
Speaker 1: was on life support and in a coma for twenty
24:39
Speaker 1: three days. Yeah, yeah, and that was so hard to see,
24:42
Speaker 1: and you just didn't know day to day what you
24:45
Speaker 1: know the news was going to be. Was she going
24:46
Speaker 1: to make her We're going to get the phone call
24:48
Speaker 1: saying she's passed. You know, I just couldn't even try
24:51
Speaker 1: to imagine my life without my sister. I just couldn't,
24:54
Speaker 1: especially ending that way. You know, when she walked out
24:57
Speaker 1: of the house that morning on the night for November
25:00
Speaker 1: in two thousand and five, she was going to Tafe
25:03
Speaker 1: and going to do a speech day, and I said
25:06
Speaker 1: to her, good luck clause I love you. She goes, thanks,
25:08
Speaker 1: SIM love you, and she walked out the door, and
25:11
Speaker 1: little did I know that may have been the last
25:12
Speaker 1: time I would have ever seen her life. So, you know,
25:15
Speaker 1: it plays on my mind, it has. It's not just
25:17
Speaker 1: that Pard, it's the whole journey then of watching her
25:21
Speaker 1: having to relive and like I said, like watching a
25:24
Speaker 1: baby be reborn. She couldn't eat for three months, learning
25:27
Speaker 1: how to walk, talk again, all these things, and still
25:30
Speaker 1: not knowing what her future was going to be. And
25:32
Speaker 1: you know, Mum and Dad's focus was completely on her,
25:34
Speaker 1: which is totally understandable. You know, we all broke at times,
25:37
Speaker 1: and we were all there to pick each other up
25:40
Speaker 1: when we did. But I was craving. I needed attention
25:44
Speaker 1: as well, you know, kissing a self which way that sounds,
25:46
Speaker 1: but I was struggling mentally. I was so young as well,
25:49
Speaker 1: and you know, like I said, life just went the
25:52
Speaker 1: complete different direction over the years. I've still to this day,
25:56
Speaker 1: I've done you know, PTSD courses. You know, I take
25:59
Speaker 1: medication for anxiety and depression in resulting to PTSD. I've
26:03
Speaker 1: seen multiple psycho a psychiatrists trying to heal the tron
26:07
Speaker 1: because it doesn't ever leave you. You just learn how to
26:10
Speaker 1: live with it. Unfortunately, I still suffer with the mental scars.
26:13
Speaker 1: But you know, I've got to be the best I
26:15
Speaker 1: can because I am a wife and a mother and
26:18
Speaker 1: I need to be the best version of myself for
26:20
Speaker 1: my children moving forward. But I guess people probably don't
26:23
Speaker 1: see that side of what then, how it impacts the
26:26
Speaker 1: families obviously as well as a victim, and the ongoing
26:30
Speaker 1: effects that will continue on probably for the rest of
26:32
Speaker 1: our lives.
26:34
Speaker 2: I should have got your husband on here to make
26:35
Speaker 2: sure that he's doing his duty in the situation. Yes,
26:39
Speaker 2: looking after you as best to get and I'm sure
26:40
Speaker 2: it's hard for him too, because there are probably days
26:42
Speaker 2: where you don't want to talk about it, and here
26:44
Speaker 2: we are talking about it, and I can see the
26:46
Speaker 2: emotions are close to the surface with you, the happy memories,
26:49
Speaker 2: you smile, you beam, and the difficult ones I can
26:52
Speaker 2: see you go straight back into yourself, and these triggers
26:54
Speaker 2: are still.
26:55
Speaker 4: Then you've got to work through these triggers.
26:57
Speaker 2: And so this whole parole issue, and this is when
27:01
Speaker 2: you're talking about PTSD. I've talked about it with serviceman,
27:03
Speaker 2: police officers, even criminals themselves, and it's often the institutional things,
27:09
Speaker 2: the lack of support, the failure to acknowledge people suffering
27:13
Speaker 2: that actually is a trigger for the PTSD. So this
27:16
Speaker 2: dehumanizing process of parole where there's animal, let's call him
27:20
Speaker 2: what he is, actually animals too nice for him is
27:22
Speaker 2: a germ.
27:23
Speaker 4: This germ may.
27:24
Speaker 2: Get his freedom again, I think would be a significant trigger,
27:27
Speaker 2: and you need to be prepared for that. Even if
27:30
Speaker 2: it's not this year, in four years time, can they hold.
27:34
Speaker 1: Him, well, that's a question for the parole I don't
27:38
Speaker 1: think that would be the case. There is a thing
27:40
Speaker 1: called Serious Offenders Order and they can monitor him after
27:45
Speaker 1: his full sentence. But that is a lot that we
27:48
Speaker 1: would have to go through as well. Again, like you said,
27:50
Speaker 1: it's triggering. Right here we are, you know, twenty years on.
27:53
Speaker 1: Lauren's doing amazing, obviously, so proud of her and the
27:58
Speaker 1: way that she's handled everything with such grace. But you know,
28:01
Speaker 1: we put it to bed for quite a long time
28:03
Speaker 1: knowing that he was where he needed to and we
28:06
Speaker 1: were safe, and not just ask but the community, the
28:08
Speaker 1: general public. You know, it's a fear for them having
28:11
Speaker 1: him coming up to being possibly released. And now obviously,
28:16
Speaker 1: you know, like I said, twenty years was like a
28:17
Speaker 1: long time, and I remember when you were sentence. I thought,
28:19
Speaker 1: oh that's ages away. You know, Well, here we are
28:22
Speaker 1: and it feels like yesterday, and now it's upon us again.
28:25
Speaker 1: You know, here we go again with the trauma being
28:27
Speaker 1: rehashed again, having to fight, like you know, to put
28:30
Speaker 1: our submissions into the parole, to have to try as
28:34
Speaker 1: best we can try to keep him where he needs
28:36
Speaker 1: to be for the remaining of his sentence, and then,
28:38
Speaker 1: like you said, every year, possibly going through this again
28:42
Speaker 1: and again. It's it's it's so debilitating.
28:46
Speaker 2: Unfortunately the reality is that just about all of our
28:49
Speaker 2: inmates will be released into society event. That is the
28:54
Speaker 2: aim of the system to find a way to release them. Yep,
28:58
Speaker 2: but this would have to come with significant controls. You
29:01
Speaker 2: talk about electronic monitoring, you talk about the possible of
29:05
Speaker 2: family support and monitoring to make sure that whatever loose
29:10
Speaker 2: screw in his head that caused him to do this
29:13
Speaker 2: back in the day does not happen again. And to
29:17
Speaker 2: that extent, it is a story about two families, and
29:20
Speaker 2: I was reading preparing for this intervening. I noticed that
29:23
Speaker 2: when he came for his sentencing, his family wasn't there.
29:27
Speaker 1: Yeah, Oh, his mum was, no, not for the sentencing.
29:30
Speaker 1: She was there just to hear the summary of before
29:34
Speaker 1: he was fund guilty, but she didn't come back to
29:36
Speaker 1: hear the verdict. So yeah, I don't think he had
29:39
Speaker 1: much support there. And again, if he comes out, you know,
29:43
Speaker 1: he possibly has to go and live with family, if
29:45
Speaker 1: he's got you know, any or friends that will take
29:47
Speaker 1: him in, you know, and that's part of his parole conditions. Yeah.
29:51
Speaker 1: It's just you know, it's something unfortunately that we have
29:54
Speaker 1: to go through again as a family, and we will
29:56
Speaker 1: get through it because you know, we've been through.
29:58
Speaker 6: Worse yeah, And I just want to say this is
30:01
Speaker 6: that I'm very worried, not only for myself, for my family, friends,
30:07
Speaker 6: but also the general public that he could be eligible
30:11
Speaker 6: to be released in July.
30:13
Speaker 1: Do you know, I mean it doesn't make sense.
30:16
Speaker 2: No, it really doesn't. And I think he could well
30:21
Speaker 2: be a powder keg waiting to go off. I mean,
30:23
Speaker 2: he's a person who never accepted his guilt, who continues
30:27
Speaker 2: to profess his innocence to the point of a pathological disbelief,
30:31
Speaker 2: I suspect. So what's he like when he's coming out?
30:34
Speaker 2: And again, I hope that when it does happen, and
30:37
Speaker 2: it probably will eventually, there is adequate consultation with your family.
30:42
Speaker 2: So some of these questions are not a mystery to you,
30:45
Speaker 2: what his state of mind is.
30:47
Speaker 4: Where he will be, will he be anywhere near.
30:50
Speaker 2: Your residences today, these sorts of basic questions. I'm not
30:53
Speaker 2: sure that it's automatic.
30:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, we have asked those hard questions, and we can
30:58
Speaker 1: put in obviously exclusion zones where he can and can't go.
31:02
Speaker 1: He will be monitored with ankle bracelet. You will obviously,
31:05
Speaker 1: you know, eventually be released into the community. And that's
31:09
Speaker 1: a concern. The thing that I find difficult is there's
31:12
Speaker 1: no support for the victims and their families, you know,
31:15
Speaker 1: especially even after Lauren left hospital, it was basically off
31:18
Speaker 1: you go on your own. There was you know, no
31:21
Speaker 1: NDS funding back in the day, like to give her
31:23
Speaker 1: psychology or anything anything like that. Anything we've ever had
31:26
Speaker 1: to do is being offer and back, you know. And
31:28
Speaker 1: I really think that there needs to be more support
31:31
Speaker 1: for people that go through these traumatic experiences. It's through
31:34
Speaker 1: no fault of their own, and especially when it comes
31:36
Speaker 1: up to parole and that sort of thing. You know,
31:38
Speaker 1: why isn't that people help trying to help the victim.
31:41
Speaker 1: I don't understand it.
31:43
Speaker 2: Yeah, the whole system seems to tilt towards the offender
31:46
Speaker 2: in these situations. But paradoxically, I think the lack of
31:50
Speaker 2: support has meant that your family and Lauren in particular,
31:55
Speaker 2: you've had to do it yourself. And I think the
31:57
Speaker 2: best revenge is living well. And when I was talking
32:00
Speaker 2: to the other day, I was surprised Lauren how light
32:04
Speaker 2: you are, and how your sense of humor, your hopes
32:07
Speaker 2: for the future, they're all there. You're not daunted by
32:10
Speaker 2: these things.
32:12
Speaker 6: Yeah, No, I always like to keep positive and you know,
32:15
Speaker 6: I can say this like, I mean, hey, I've got
32:18
Speaker 6: scars and the bald spot, I've got lots of things
32:23
Speaker 6: wrong with my face, particularly, but you know what, at
32:27
Speaker 6: the end of the day, no one's perfect, and I
32:29
Speaker 6: always like to keep on the right side of life
32:32
Speaker 6: and as positive as I possibly can be, because you
32:35
Speaker 6: know what it really, I mean, I could have lost
32:38
Speaker 6: my limbs. You know, I'm just so thankful to be
32:41
Speaker 6: able to do these simple things like talk, walk and eat,
32:44
Speaker 6: you know what I mean.
32:44
Speaker 1: Like, it's shocking. What's happening is shocking. It's very bad.
32:50
Speaker 6: And I don't I don't want to like say anything
32:53
Speaker 6: like that.
32:54
Speaker 1: I can I say, I just you never want you
32:56
Speaker 1: want to feel sorry for you? That's what you want. Yeah, No, exactly,
32:59
Speaker 1: that's exactly.
33:00
Speaker 4: Yeah.
33:00
Speaker 1: You just wanted to get on with your life.
33:02
Speaker 6: And yeah, and I just want to keep looking forward.
33:05
Speaker 1: Be grateful that you're still here, and you know, make
33:08
Speaker 1: the most of it. You know, we get one chance
33:09
Speaker 1: of life. Lauren thankfully was given a second chance. Oh yeah, definitely.
33:13
Speaker 1: The fact that you know, that's down to many people
33:16
Speaker 1: from the first responders like to do, Like I said,
33:18
Speaker 1: the incredible stuff at Weysboend Hospital. Yeah, but also Lauren's
33:23
Speaker 1: will to fight and her will to live and determination
33:27
Speaker 1: which she is very determined that as support of family
33:30
Speaker 1: and friends, I think also played a part of it.
33:33
Speaker 1: It was you know, it was a team effort, definitely.
33:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, unbelievable. And I think you've gotten past
33:40
Speaker 2: the stage of just learning to eat, walk and talk
33:42
Speaker 2: and this type of thing. You're now you want to
33:45
Speaker 2: be a speaker. Now you've got a story to tell
33:48
Speaker 2: other people.
33:49
Speaker 6: Yeah, I do, And I really hope in the talk
33:54
Speaker 6: that I do inspire others with my experience. I'm happy
33:59
Speaker 6: to tell them, tell them a lot of what I
34:02
Speaker 6: went through and.
34:05
Speaker 1: And how you got through it all.
34:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, of course, ladies, I'm seeing a double act here.
34:10
Speaker 2: I think you both should get up there and talk.
34:12
Speaker 2: And I think this it could be a big smile
34:14
Speaker 2: on Simone's face now I can see that that this
34:18
Speaker 2: should be a part of your healing as well, My dear.
34:20
Speaker 2: You should be telling because I think that's the part
34:22
Speaker 2: of the issue, and we've touched on this, is that
34:26
Speaker 2: a lot of focus necessarily goes on Simone, but you're
34:30
Speaker 2: also there and your journey with her is one that
34:34
Speaker 2: I think a lot of people in your shoes would
34:36
Speaker 2: also want to hear.
34:37
Speaker 4: So are we going to see Double Act?
34:39
Speaker 1: Well? Yeah, actually we are doing a public speaking event
34:43
Speaker 1: a couple coming up which have been approached to do,
34:45
Speaker 1: which it should be nice, you know, to tell our
34:48
Speaker 1: story as sisters and what it means for us from
34:52
Speaker 1: you know, when we were young to what our life
34:54
Speaker 1: now looks like. And you know, Lauren, being the doating
34:57
Speaker 1: artie that she is, we have been asked to talk
34:59
Speaker 1: to her International Women's Day coming up, which I am
35:02
Speaker 1: super proud to stand beside my sister help share her story,
35:06
Speaker 1: but also you know you touch on mine a bit,
35:09
Speaker 1: the journey that it takes the families through as well.
35:13
Speaker 1: Why not after twenty years. I think we're both strong
35:15
Speaker 1: enough to talk about it now, and I think it's
35:17
Speaker 1: an important conversation that has to be hard, you know,
35:20
Speaker 1: talking about women and empowering women, but also Lauren inspiring others.
35:24
Speaker 1: But you know, let's talk about there is a lot
35:26
Speaker 1: of unfortunate violence against women, domestic violence. Things need to
35:30
Speaker 1: change then, needs to do better, support systems put in
35:33
Speaker 1: place and you know, strong but tougher laws and you know,
35:37
Speaker 1: to stop these things from happening. So I'm looking forward
35:40
Speaker 1: to doing this alongside my sister.
35:43
Speaker 2: I can't wait to see what you guys do because
35:45
Speaker 2: doing this podcast for the last year, my inbox almost
35:49
Speaker 2: every week has stories from women who've suffered violence in marriage,
35:54
Speaker 2: out of marriage, random attacks, you name it.
35:57
Speaker 4: And women are not protected. They're not safe.
35:59
Speaker 2: The system does not look after them, the court system
36:02
Speaker 2: doesn't And I think that resilience that you guys have
36:06
Speaker 2: shown is inspirational to people out there. And I think
36:10
Speaker 2: people are going to deeply empathize with you when they
36:14
Speaker 2: learn that farmer is back on the streets and you're
36:18
Speaker 2: going to have to adjust to that reality. Have you
36:20
Speaker 2: thought much about that, Lauren? Are you going to change
36:23
Speaker 2: anything in your life? Or you're just going to continue
36:25
Speaker 2: doing what you're doing?
36:26
Speaker 6: Ah? Yeah, I think I'll just continue to do what
36:29
Speaker 6: I'm what I've been doing.
36:32
Speaker 1: He's not going to stop you, no ways.
36:35
Speaker 6: No, I've come so far, you know what I mean,
36:37
Speaker 6: And there's nothing stuff for me now, that's right. So
36:41
Speaker 6: you know what I went through a lot before, but
36:44
Speaker 6: you know, rehabilitation, you know, talking walking, eating, and recovery.
36:52
Speaker 1: But now I'm just going to live my life.
36:55
Speaker 4: The way I want to in these kind of interviews.
36:59
Speaker 2: At this point, what jumps into my mind is the
37:02
Speaker 2: question of forgiveness. But I think forgiveness has to come
37:05
Speaker 2: with insight, and how can you extend any kind of
37:09
Speaker 2: mercy forgiveness to him if he's not shown you the
37:11
Speaker 2: very basics of that as well, to say that yes,
37:14
Speaker 2: I did this, Yes I took this from you, this
37:16
Speaker 2: is how I will atone And I don't see a
37:21
Speaker 2: situation where someone can get parole ever they don't do
37:26
Speaker 2: those things.
37:27
Speaker 1: Yeah, completely agree, So I guess, Yeah, let's see what happens.
37:31
Speaker 1: But yeah, he should not be given parole without having
37:35
Speaker 1: any form of accountability for his horrific crimes. Yeah, it's
37:40
Speaker 1: being belief even to think about. But at the end
37:43
Speaker 1: of the day, we have to deal with it as
37:46
Speaker 1: best we can moving forward as a family. Yes, it
37:49
Speaker 1: will be concerning and obviously a worry if he is
37:51
Speaker 1: to walk amongst us again. It's not fair, but it
37:54
Speaker 1: is what it is, and let's hope that he will
37:57
Speaker 1: get knocked back and try to do better. You know,
38:00
Speaker 1: I do believe you know, there is a system for
38:02
Speaker 1: a reason, and I appreciate that you know the way
38:05
Speaker 1: the parole works and whatnot, But I do think some
38:08
Speaker 1: you know, criminals can be rubilitated. You know, you'd like
38:11
Speaker 1: to think so and hope and do better, But then
38:13
Speaker 1: you come to this one and, like you said, had
38:15
Speaker 1: no condition or guilt, and it doesn't seem to be
38:18
Speaker 1: doing anything positive behind bars to be able to try
38:23
Speaker 1: to get back into society and live a normal life
38:25
Speaker 1: and do better. You know, you hope that he will
38:27
Speaker 1: and just leave people alone and not hurt anybody anymore.
38:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm reminded of a story now as we speak.
38:34
Speaker 2: A contact of mine who I was very close to,
38:36
Speaker 2: gave evidence against her partner, who was an outlaw biky
38:39
Speaker 2: and she was in witness protection for five years.
38:42
Speaker 4: He was held on light charges.
38:44
Speaker 2: He ends up getting parole, and there is a god
38:47
Speaker 2: because he came out and discovered he was riddled with
38:49
Speaker 2: cancer and died three months after.
38:51
Speaker 4: I'm going to say, you got his right whack.
38:53
Speaker 2: I don't wish ill on farm, I don't wish ill
38:55
Speaker 2: on anybody, but you deserve protection. You deserve a fair
38:59
Speaker 2: go from the parole system to make sure if he
39:02
Speaker 2: does hit the bricks again, but you know exactly his
39:06
Speaker 2: whereabouts and the risk to you is minimized.
39:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, I think that's the least that they can
39:12
Speaker 1: do in this situation to make us aware of his
39:16
Speaker 1: you know, whereabouts. And yeah, it's just I don't even
39:20
Speaker 1: have the words, to be honest, like how we are
39:22
Speaker 1: feeling about it. It's heavy, it's a lot. It's just
39:26
Speaker 1: you know, I, you know, I have struggle with you know,
39:30
Speaker 1: sleeping and that sort of thing. Try not to think
39:33
Speaker 1: about it, obviously, but you know it's yeah, it's not easy.
39:37
Speaker 4: Yeah, and it's not Lauren.
39:39
Speaker 2: Just finally, what's your message to other women out there
39:42
Speaker 2: who are facing the possibility of their attackers, their offenders
39:47
Speaker 2: coming out of jail. Your aura is so strong and
39:51
Speaker 2: so inspirational. What can you give other women who are
39:55
Speaker 2: in a similar position of fear and trepidation about a parole.
40:00
Speaker 1: That's a hard question.
40:02
Speaker 6: Just to stay strong, maybe, Yeah, stay strong and come
40:06
Speaker 6: and just you know, go on with your own life
40:12
Speaker 6: and take care of themselves, you know, mentally and emotionally obviously, Yeah,
40:16
Speaker 6: of course, and have that you know, hopefully I have
40:19
Speaker 6: a lot of love and support around them to protect
40:21
Speaker 6: them in that space. It is really important, and you
40:24
Speaker 6: just hope that the parole system does the right thing
40:27
Speaker 6: by not just Lauren and my family, but for other
40:30
Speaker 6: people that are in similar situations.
40:33
Speaker 1: You know, it needs to be about the victim and
40:36
Speaker 1: not the perpetrator, and sometimes it does seem to be
40:40
Speaker 1: the way around, which doesn't sit well with me at all.
40:44
Speaker 4: That's right.
40:44
Speaker 2: Well, ladies, it's been an honor and a privilege to
40:47
Speaker 2: talk to you. And as I said before the I
40:49
Speaker 2: was quite nervous and you put me at ease, and
40:51
Speaker 2: I just I love your energy, I love your teamwork,
40:53
Speaker 2: I love your family.
40:54
Speaker 1: Thank you, Thanks Adam. We love you to really appreciate
40:57
Speaker 1: the opportunity to share, you know, Lauren and my family
41:01
Speaker 1: story and to hope that something good will come. I'm
41:05
Speaker 1: out of this and you know, speaking up, you know,
41:09
Speaker 1: showing you our vulnerabilities and sharing our voices to you know,
41:13
Speaker 1: let's hope that things might change. Like I said, not
41:16
Speaker 1: just for our family, but for others. You know, Yeah, something's.
41:20
Speaker 2: Got to give, something's got to give, and it's the
41:23
Speaker 2: offender that has to give more in this case. Ladies,
41:25
Speaker 2: thank you so much for your time. We'll stay in
41:28
Speaker 2: touch with you and if you need any more advice.
41:30
Speaker 2: My lovely son and Lord tangy. Well, I'm ware of
41:32
Speaker 2: some be legal will be there in a flash.
41:34
Speaker 1: He's amazing. We really appreciate all that. Lauren. You want
41:39
Speaker 1: to say one thing you always like to say.
41:41
Speaker 6: The pleasure in life is doing what other people say
41:44
Speaker 6: you can't do.
41:45
Speaker 1: Lauren's always stood by that, and you know it's amazing
41:48
Speaker 1: her attitude and goes to show why she's still here,
41:50
Speaker 1: standing strong.
41:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's Lauren Huxley and Simone Gibson's sisters, steadfast supporters
41:59
Speaker 2: of each other as they go into this very uncertain,
42:02
Speaker 2: dangerous time.
42:04
Speaker 4: When Robert Black Farmer may get parole, I don't.
42:08
Speaker 2: Think he will personally if there's any justice to this,
42:11
Speaker 2: and I think the system has to change. I have
42:13
Speaker 2: to look at the conditions of parole. It is changing,
42:16
Speaker 2: but boy, what about some life sentences for people who've
42:18
Speaker 2: had a callous disregard for not just the victim but
42:21
Speaker 2: their families, this type of thing. I mean, we even
42:24
Speaker 2: talk about people going into capital punishment for these sorts
42:26
Speaker 2: of crimes. I'm not sure we get to that stage.
42:28
Speaker 2: But I think longer sentences, much tougher parole is the
42:32
Speaker 2: basic that people expect, and that's what I think should happen.
42:36
Speaker 2: If you've had some experiences with something similar, or you've
42:39
Speaker 2: got some thoughts to share, please get in touch Adam Shander.
42:41
Speaker 4: Writer at gmail dot com.
42:44
Speaker 2: I'm going to put some resources in the show notes here,
42:46
Speaker 2: including there's a petition there which you can sign expressing
42:50
Speaker 2: your opposition to Robert Black Farmer's possibility at parole. So
42:55
Speaker 2: sign that get involved, don't be silent, be inspired by
43:00
Speaker 2: what this miracle story offers for you in your life.
43:03
Speaker 2: It's certainly inspired me. This has been Adam Shan for
43:06
Speaker 2: Real Crime. Thanks for listening.
43:19
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43:22
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43:25
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