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Daniel Morcombe’s killer sentenced to life, with no parole for 20 years | Daniel Morcombe’s killer sentenced to life, with no parole for 20 years |
(about 2 hours later) | |
Serial paedophile Brett Peter Cowan has been sentenced to life in prison, with a non-parole period of 20 years, for murdering Sunshine Coast schoolboy Daniel Morcombe. | |
The 44-year-old father of three was also sentenced on Friday for indecently dealing with Daniel, 13, and interfering with his corpse in December 2003. | |
Supreme court justice Roslyn Atkinson was required to sentence Cowan to a non-parole period of at least 15 years, but said she felt Cowan’s crimes warranted a harsher penalty. | |
“Everything about what you did to that child was horrific and disgraceful,” she told Cowan in the Brisbane courtroom. | |
“This is not just a murder, but a terrible murder. It has had widespread and shocking impacts.” | “This is not just a murder, but a terrible murder. It has had widespread and shocking impacts.” |
Atkinson said Cowan had been jailed twice before for molesting young boys in circumstances eerily similar to Daniel’s disappearance. | |
“Whenever anyone is considering the prospect of granting you parole in the future they should mark my words that you are a convincing, plausible and adaptable liar, and prepared to lie to advance your own interests,” she said. | |
The justice said Cowan had never shown any remorse for what he did, apart from feeling sorry for himself. | |
She added that his opportunistic offending in broad daylight drove “fear into the hearts” of everyone in the community. | |
Daniel’s parents, Bruce and Denise Morcombe, now child safety campaigners, were not in court, choosing to attend a fundraiser instead. | |
Cowan was also sentenced to three-and-a-half years’ jail for indecently dealing with Daniel and two years for interfering with his corpse, to be served concurrently with his murder sentence. | |
The former tow truck driver has already spent two-and-a-half years in prison since his arrest in August 2011. | |
Child protection advocate Hetty Johnston said Queensland laws needed to be changed to make it easier for judges to sentence paedophiles to even harsher sentences. | |
“This man should never, ever see the light of day again and whatever happened today should have made sure that sealed it,” she told reporters outside court. | |
“I would have liked to have seen him just [get] life [for] life – you know, 50 years, 100 years no parole, just never let him out.” | |
Daniel vanished while waiting for a bus at Woombye on the Sunshine Coast on 7 December, 2003. | |
His remains were found in bushland at the Glass House Mountains in the Sunshine Coast hinterland in August and September, 2011. | |
Cowan had previously been jailed for sex crimes against young boys in Brisbane and Darwin in 1987 and 1993, and had a history of molesting children dating back to his teen years. |
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