Sophie Quinn’s death ‘shows justice system is running blind’
The industry’s peak body has said the justice system has been “blinded” in detecting risks of family violence after the Western NSW Minister refused to respond to opposition pressure for further changes to bail law following three alleged murders in regional NSW.
Heavily pregnant Sophie Quinn, 24, was allegedly shot dead by her ex-partner Julian Ingram in the Midwestern town of Lake Cargelligo on Thursday. Also killed were her aunt Nerida Quinn, 50, and her friend John Harris, 32. 19-year-old Kaleb Macqueen was seriously injured. Ingram remains at large.
The tragedy unfolded two years after 28-year-old Forbes woman Molly Ticehurst was murdered by her ex-boyfriend Daniel Billings, sparking sweeping bail reforms.
Amid calls for tougher bail law changes, Domestic Violence NSW senior policy and advocacy officer Angie Gehle said they would not provide a “quick fix” to the national crisis and a justice system operating in a “vacuum”.
In response to Billings being out on bail for domestic violence offenses when he killed Ticehurst, the NSW government introduced legislation in 2024 that makes it harder for people accused of serious domestic violence offenses to be released back into the community.
The onus is on the defendant to argue why he should be released due to alleged “serious” domestic violence crimes that include sexual assault, strangulation, kidnapping or coercive control, and intimate partner violence that carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years or more.
Those released on bail will be fitted with electronic monitoring bracelets.
On Friday, this imprint revealed that Ingram, like Billings, was out on bail on domestic violence charges (including stalking and assault) during the alleged triple murder, sparking questions about the effectiveness of bail reforms.
Ingram was granted bail by police in November and continued in court in December because his charges did not meet the legal threshold for “serious” domestic violence offenses under the new laws.
Court records show Ingram has been issued six AVOs since 2014, protecting five people, including Quinn.
On Sunday, NSW shadow attorney general Damien Tudehope said the circumstances of the shooting showed further legislative changes were needed to lower the threshold for what is considered a serious offence.
Tudehope suggested the law could be changed to require people with a history of domestic violence to wear monitoring bracelets, even in cases that don’t meet the serious threshold.
“I think the loophole for electronic monitoring probably needs to be tightened in cases where there have been previous AVOs or domestic violence-related offenses,” he said, adding that Ingram’s access to a firearm despite not having a gun license in NSW raises questions about the application of the state’s licensing regime.
Also on Sunday, Western NSW Minister Tara Moriarty refused to comment directly on whether the government would consider further bail reforms, including expanding what factors could trigger bail denials, citing the ongoing manhunt.
But he said “if more study needs to be done, we’ll take a look at that.”
But Gehle said further bail law changes, including lowering the threshold for “serious” crimes, would not be a “quick fix.”
While he acknowledged the failure of bail reforms to cover less punishable offenses was a problem, he said the lack of “reliable and up-to-date” information courts needed to assess risk was a wider problem.
“When someone goes before the court — and this is where the legal system gets really tricky — they can only look at the matter in front of them and a little bit of history, but sometimes they can’t look at the contextual history that would inform the risk,” he said.
“This is problematic because you only get a quarter of the picture.”
This means the legal system is “operating in a vacuum,” Gehle said. It called for greater involvement of family members and specialist knowledge in police stations and courts (respecting confidentiality and security), noting that victim survivors often share important information with support services.
One such risk factor was increasing rates of domestic violence against pregnant women; because some perpetrators felt they had lost control over women when they diverted attention elsewhere.
“It’s a really complicated situation. The judiciary is almost blinded to these risk factors, and I think that’s some of the integrated things that really need to come into play.”
While Gehle said some survivors were “misidentified as perpetrators” and could be sent to detention if the criminal threshold was lowered, he suggested there were opportunities for behavioral programs for men to be integrated with the justice system.
Gehle acknowledged that with the courts overstretched, it would be difficult to allocate enough time to more thoroughly assess the risks.
But ultimately change cannot come from the justice system alone, he said, echoing concerns previously raised by DVNSW chief executive Delia Donovan about poor access to survivor support services, emergency housing and police support in regional areas.
“We are at a crisis point,” Gehle said.
“We have been at a crisis point for a long time… Enough is enough. This needs to be a holistic systems of government approach.”
Criminal lawyer and Law Society of NSW accredited expert Andrew Teidt reiterated the point that the courts had limited resources, but said bail laws “do a good job of balancing the individual’s right to liberty with the protection of society”.
“I think it’s a great idea to provide more resources to put more material in front of the judge,” he said.
“But there is so much work and there are only ‘X’ amount of judges… there are only so many hours in the day.”
On Friday, Western Area Command Deputy Commissioner Andrew Holland defended the decision to grant Ingram bail to police, saying he had complied with all conditions and had no other violent charges against him in the past five years.
Crime victims advocate Howard Brown has called for risk assessment to go back at least a decade, as well as lowering the “serious crime” threshold and expanding the electronic monitoring scheme to cover a wider range of DV charges.
“When you get to a point where there is very little control, that’s when the person becomes more dangerous,” he said.
Under Ingram’s bail conditions, he was required to report to local police every day.
In December, DVNSW published research that found the cost of providing victim support services was almost nine times higher outside metropolitan areas. It called for a 50 per cent increase in funding for essential support services, as well as additional funding for regional providers.
The report found regional areas often had DV rates five to six times worse than metropolitan Sydney, and service providers were responding to “unprecedented demand, often operating at several times their funded capacity”.
But Moriarty defended NSW Labor’s investment in domestic violence prevention, saying the government had invested “significant resources” into services.
“As a government we will continue to look at the services that need to be provided, but the message couldn’t be clearer – people need to stop attacking women in NSW and elsewhere,” he said.
Support is available from: National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Domestic Violence Counseling Service From (1800RESPECT) 1800 737 732.
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