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On 21 June 2018 Samantha Hutchinson and David King in reported ‘Loophole opens way for killer's freedom’

The Victorian government has been left red-faced and scrambling to draft tougher laws to keep police killers behind bars for life, after a High Court ruling gave Russell Street bomber Craig Minogue a chance to apply for parole. Premier Daniel Andrews has been accused of a "monumental stuff-up" and a major legislative blunder after the court upheld Minogue's challenge against a Victorian law that has kept him locked up beyond his sentence.

Minogue killed 21-year-old police constable Angela Taylor with a car bomb outside the police headquarters on Russell Street, , in 1986. The bomb also injured 22 people.

Minogue was convicted of murder and given a life sentence with a non-parole period of 28 years, which the government tried in 2016 to convert into life behind bars with legislation that stops police killers from being released on parole. But the High Court yesterday found the legislation did not apply to Minogue because the specific wording that stipulates the offender must have either known or "was reckless as to whether" the person was a police officer.

In a summary, the court found Minogue was not sentenced on that basis. "The remarks of the sentencing judge contain no reference to the plaintiff's state of mind concerning the identity of the police constable who was killed," the summary said. "The offence committed was indiscriminate and no particular person or class of persons was targeted."

But Police Association secretary Wayne Gatt said the attack had targeted police. "Evidence was moved in that trial that clearly indicated that it was a planned attack at police headquarters that intended to kill police," he told the ABC.

The outcome represents a devastating blow to the Andrews government, which specifically cited Minogue and the death of Taylor when it introduced the laws. Corrections Minister Gayle Tierney described the High Court decision as "very disappointing" but rejected suggestions of sloppy drafting. "It's not a matter of a stuff-up. It's a matter of a technicality that I won't go into at this point in time — we are receiving further advice — but it is an unforeseen technicality that will be fixed," Ms Tierney said. The government would draft amendments to close the loophole.

The opposition accused the government of a "monumental stuff-up" in its decision to draft its own legislation rather than model it on earlier legislation — which has been upheld in the High Court — and was designed to keep Hoddle Street killer Julian Knight in jail for life. "The Andrews Labor government can't keep one of Victoria's worst police murderers behind bars," shadow attorney-general John Pesutto said.

In an extraordinary move, Minogue released a voice message after the decision, recorded from a collect call made from Barwon Prison. He said he had waited for 30 years for the chance of parole only to have the government take it away from him.

"I waited over 30 years and I took my kick at the goal at being released on parole but while the ball was still in flight the government moved the goalposts making me eligible for parole," he said."And today, the umpire has ruled that the government with the full support of the opposition was acting outside the rules of the lawmaking game, and the laws they made against me that were in question won't actually apply to me."