A coroner in Australia has said that the murder of Irish woman Jill Meagher could have been prevented if the man convicted of her murder had been immediately taken into custody when he breached parole.
Adrian Bayley was jailed for at least 35 years for the rape and murder of Ms Meagher in Melbourne on 22 September 2012.
That term was extended to 43 years after he was sentenced in May 2015 for three further rape convictions, including one attack which he carried out a few months before he murdered Ms Meagher.
Bayley was on parole from a prison sentence for raping five women when he snatched Ms Meagher off Sydney Road in Brunswick as she was walking home after a night out with friends.
The 29-year-old's body was discovered in a shallow grave about 50km northwest of Melbourne.
No inquest was held at the request of her family.
Coroner Ian Gray said today that he made the findings because the Co Louth woman was one of three women murdered by men with violent criminal histories during a six-month period.
He said Victoria's prison and parole authorities could have prevented Ms Meagher's death if Bayley had been taken into custody when he breached his parole.
Mr Gray said "a more rigorous, risk averse approach by CCS (Community Correctional Services) and the APB (Adult Parole Board) would have led to a cancellation of Bayley's parole.
"The approach taken is difficult to understand ... it did not bring dangerous and high risk parolees immediately to account."
