WARNING: Murderers and sex offenders are REMOVING their ankle monitoring bracelets while on parole despite being ‘tamper proof’
- Sixteen violent criminals were able to remove their ankle bracelets in NSW
- Damien Peters, 50, went on the run for 24 hours after removing his monitoring device while on parole for murdering two former lovers in 2001
- Two sex offenders also broke out of the electronic devices in the last five years
- The Department of Corrective Services says the devices set off an alarm and that all offenders were swiftly ‘returned to custody’
A double murderer who diced up his former lovers and two sex offenders were among 16 violent criminals who escaped from their ankle monitoring bracelets while on parole.
The Buddi Insight Smart Tags are made from Kevlar-steel, the same material bullet proof vests are manufactured from, and are supposed to be ‘tamper proof’.
The electronic trackers were still no match for some of the country’s worst criminals and domestic violence offenders with 16 removing the devices in the last five years.
Damien Peters, 50, removed his ankle bracelet in April and went on the run for 24 hours after he was let out on parole for the murders of two lovers in 2001
Damien Peters, was on parole after serving 18 years for the murder of two former lovers in 2001, removed his ankle bracelet while undergoing treatment at Prince of Wales hospital in Randwick, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs in April this year.
He was on the run for 24 hours before being apprehended by police in Petersham, in Sydney’s inner west.
Peters, who was 32 at the time of his crimes, had stabbed Tereaupii Akai, 50, twice in the neck before cutting up his body and throwing it in a council bin.
He stabbed 57-year-old Bevan James Frost to death eight months later while giving him a massage in bed before cutting up his body.
Peters was returned to Corrective Services custody to serve the remaining six years of his sentence.
But Corrective Services NSW said the device’s alarms were triggered during the removal process which set off ‘immediate action’.
Serial child molester, Michael Guider, had a mandaory electronic device attached when he was released on parole from prison on September 5, following his conviction for the murder of nine year old Sydney school girl Samantha Knight in 1986
‘It is not possible for offenders to remove the devices without setting off alerts to the monitoring room’ a spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Evidence shows that supervision by Community Corrections officers is one of the most effective ways to reduce reoffending,’ she said.
‘Officers also challenge their attitudes to change their behaviour and reduce their chance of reoffending.
‘In the past three years we have boosted our Community Corrections teams by almost 300 officers to manage offenders in the community.’
The Buddi Insight Smart Tags are ‘tamper proof’ and an alarm will be sent back to The NSW Department of Corrective Services if they are removed
The NSW Government invested $21.8 million this year to expand the External and Electronic Monitoring Group.
The number of offenders wearing the devices has skyrocketed since June when GPS tracking devices for sex offenders on parole was made mandatory.
This meant that sex offenders such as serial child molester Micheal Guider, who was imprisoned for the murder of nine year old Sydney School girl Samantha Knight in 1986, could be more easily tracked, following his release from prison on September 5, this year.