An Australian prison service agreed today to review education courses offered to maximum security prisoners after it was revealed a mass murderer had completed a university degree in weapons and military strategy.
Julian Knight, who shot dead seven people and wounded 17 others in Melbourne in 1987, has obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree and even gone so far as to submit his views on army recruitment to a parliamentary committee.
Knight, a then 19-year-old failed cadet soldier and gun fanatic, fired 150 shots in 40 minutes in a shooting rampage on a dark Melbourne street 14 years ago.
Victoria State Correctional Services Commissioner, Penny Armytage, admitted it was a mistake to allow him to study guns while in prison.
However, she said the prison services were legally obliged to allow him to take a university course as part of his rehabilitation.
"There is provision that gives them a right to have access to education but clearly that does need to be balanced against their rehabilitation goals," she told Australian Broadcasting Corporationradio.
She said his course on weapons systems might conflict with his rehabilitation and promised a review of assessment procedures.
Con Victos, a relative of one of the victims, said he was distressed to learn Knight had been offered the course.
"He should not be doing this sort of thing. I think that his mind is still enagaged in this area of guns and the military generally," he said.
Senator Sandy Macdonald said the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee would disregard Knight's written submission on how to get more people to enlist in the army.
Knight was sentenced to a total of 460 years in jail when he was given seven life terms at his trial in 1988 and ordered to serve at least 27 years before being considered for parole.
AFP