The man who killed former Narooma resident Justine Jones dumping her body in a bin on the Sunshine Coast was one of 12 New Zealanders deported from Christmas Island last month.
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The Courier-Mail in Queensland and TV One in NZ have both reported that Richard Peter Coburn, 32, was among the Kiwis who last month voluntarily boarded a charter flight from Christmas Island’s detention centre to New Zealand.
Justine’s mother Kathleen Jones, who still lives in Narooma, was devastated by the news that her daughter’s killer was released in October after spending just over five years in jail and that he would now be a “free man” in New Zealand.
“I’m so angry for the amount of time that he got,” she said. “I am speaking up now to make sure Justine’s voice is heard because what he got was just disgusting.”
The Supreme Court in Brisbane sentenced Coburn to more than 10 years’ jail for the manslaughter of Ms Jones in 2010 when they were both living on the Sunshine Coast.
He threw her body in a bin that was compacted, and while her body was eventually find, a cause of death was never determined and hence he was only found guilty of manslaughter.
Kathleen Jones said she was told Mr Coburn’s release had been for good behaviour in prison. Including time in remand, he spent just over five years in jail.
She said she planned on returning to Queensland to meet with the Department of Public Prosecutions and the organisation supporting victims of crime to express her disappointment at the outcome of the trial.
Justine is buried in the Narooma Cemetery and Kathleen says she now has a headstone to place on the grave, but working out the wording for the stone had just been so difficult.
Dubbed “Con Air” the charter flight to Auckland last month had one killer, child molesters, wife beaters, thugs and drug dealers on board.
Prime Minister John Key has spoken about a convicted killer who was among 12 deportees to arrive in NZ. Mr Key said legislation passed under urgency recently allowed New Zealand authorities to have authority over the flight's passengers as if they had been released from a New Zealand prison.
"Whether [serious offenders] are part of the 12 or not, inevitably at some point they will be, because as we know there are people in that category in amongst the 585 that could be deported in the next wee while."