Armed self defence illegal + releasing violent sex predators legal = strike . . . how many is it now?

Failures set sex predator Andrew Clive Ellis free
by: Robyn Ironside From: The Courier-Mail February 01, 2012 12:00AM

Source: The Courier-Mail
THE state's ability to protect the community from serious sex predators has come under fire after a convicted pedophile yesterday hacked off his GPS tracker, escaped transitional housing and allegedly attacked a female jogger.

Police last night charged Andrew Clive Ellis with two counts of entering a premises and committing an indictable offence, as well as one count each of contravention of a relevant order, deprivation of liberty, assault occasioning bodily harm and stealing. He will appear in Richlands Magistrates Court today.

Premier Anna Bligh yesterday blamed the courts for the escape of Andrew Clive Ellis, but The Courier-Mail can identify at least six crucial failures that led to him running loose on Brisbane streets for 16 hours yesterday:

* On October 25 last year, Supreme Court Justice Ann Lyons orders Ellis be released into the community;

* After a Crown appeal, Justice Richard Chesterman releases Ellis to transitional housing at Wacol;

Keeping track of high-risk offenders
THE State Government pledged $13.7 million over four years to the introduction of new GPS tracking systems for prisoners subject to supervision and ongoing monitoring under the Dangerous Prisoners Sexual Offenders Act following their release from jail. End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
* Ellis cuts through the "tamper-proof" GPS tracking device fitted to his ankle. The alarm on the device alerted Corrective Services of his escape, but the dog squad was not deployed until 11 minutes later;

* Ellis walks free despite 24-hour curfew;

* CCTV footage fails to capture his escape;

* Police take 14 hours to alert public of Ellis posing a "real danger to public safety".

Despite a judge ruling Ellis's risk of reoffending was "too low to justify keeping him in jail", just five hours after his escape Ellis allegedly attacked an off-duty policewoman jogging through parklands at Seventeen Miles Rocks, 7km away.

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