Grim warning from lawyer dad of Courtney Herron who was brutally killed in a Melbourne park about Australia’s justice system: ‘Chaotic’

A week after thousands took to the streets to protest violence against women, the father of a young woman brutally murdered almost five years ago has called for changes to the “chaotic” criminal justice system.

Twenty-eight women have been violently murdered since the start of the year, according to data from the advocacy group Destroy the Joint, Counting Dead Women.

John Herron’s daughter Courtney was murdered in Melbourne’s Royal Park in 2019 by Henry Hammond, who beat her to death with a branch for 50 minutes in the early hours of Saturday, May 25.

He dragged Ms. Herron’s body to a clearing, covered it with leaves and a tree branch and placed a large piece of concrete on her face.

Ms Herron’s body was found a few hours later by dog ​​walkers.

She was only 25 years old at the time.

Hammond was found not guilty of murder because he had schizophrenia at the time he killed Mrs Herron.

Instead, he was ordered to serve a 25-year sentence in a mental institution.

On Friday, Mr Herron, who works as a country lawyer representing victims of domestic violence and their families, criticized politicians for their lack of action in preventing violence against women.

He said a range of changes to the criminal justice system were needed, including law reform, support for victims, stricter bail laws and enforcement of intervention orders.

“The system is chaotic and on the verge of collapse,” Herron said.

“It’s not doing what it’s supposed to do to protect women.”

Mr Herron said intervention orders were often misused by people, leaving police and magistrates inundated with ‘frivolous or minor intervention orders’.

In his experience, he said the frivolous orders were sometimes issued by an alleged perpetrator of domestic violence against a victim.

“It’s very common for these women to be absolutely stunned that the abuser or perpetrator can take orders over them,” he said.

Mr Herron called for stricter bail laws, saying that in most cases when women were murdered, the perpetrators had previously been brought to the attention of authorities.

His daughter’s attacker, Hammond, had a community corrections order in place when he killed Mrs Herron.

Courtney Herron was murdered in Melbourne’s Royal Park in 2019 by Henry Hammond, who beat her to death with a branch. She was 25 at the time

Courtney’s killer, Henry Hammond, had a community corrections order in place at the time he killed her

Mr Herron said the run-up to the five-year anniversary of his daughter’s death was an “emotional time”.

“For people in my situation, anniversaries hit very hard,” he said.

“If you think about your daughter every day, it just rattles you.”

Mr Herron said his daughter’s birthday had recently passed.

“She would have been thirty,” he said.

‘You can’t turn back the clock, you just don’t see them anymore.’

Mr Herron said he would continue to fight for justice and help others.

“I have to keep going because who else is going to say anything?”

‘I help other people because they have no help.’

Mr Herron’s comments come after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared violence against women a “national crisis”.

The government announced this week that it would invest $925 million over five years to help women escape abusive relationships and introduce new legislation to ban deepfake pornography as part of a series of measures in a bid to combat gender-based violence.