ANOTHER GOVERNMENT COVERUP

The [Queensland] State Government has blocked a prisoner from speaking publicly about information he claims identifies the "real killer" of schoolgirl Leanne Holland. The man, who is in Wolston Correctional Centre in Brisbane, once shared a cell with a violent sex offender who allegedly boasted of his involvement in the 1991 murder of the 12-year-old. The offender knew details only the killer could have known and claimed he had photographs of Leanne's body, dumped in bush at Redbank Plains in Ipswich. The long-term prisoner is willing to reveal information to The Sunday Mail in a bid to clear Graham Stafford, who was jailed for life for the brutal sex slaying.

Stafford strenuously denies murdering Leanne, the sister of his then-fiancee, and is about to launch a desperate last-ditch petition for a pardon. The Sunday Mail sought permission to interview the Wolston prisoner – who cannot be identified for legal reasons – after being contacted by his mother. However, the Department of Corrective Services this week blocked our attempt to speak with him. In refusing the interview, Corrective Services media chief Ross McSwain said that "particular consideration was given to the potential impact of interviews on the victims of crime and their families".

The prisoner's mother said her son, jailed in 1992 for a range of serious offences, shared a cell at Moreton Jail with a sex offender, 51, who was serving a seven-year sentence before being released in 2003. The offender was the same man named by two sisters in a Sunday Mail report last year as being responsible for Leanne's murder.

The prisoner's mother said her son, who is eligible for release this year after serving 13 years, nine months, had nothing to gain by passing on the information about the case – other than clearing the name of Stafford, who he believed was innocent. "He said he was forced to share his cell with this other fellow . . . said he was always talking about the murder . . . non-stop talking about Leanne Holland," she said yesterday. "He told my son about the killing, explicit details, and said he had autopsy photos of her."

The mother was prompted to contact The Sunday Mail after reading a report in October about sensational new claims in the book, Who Killed Leanne?, by former police officer Graeme Crowley and criminologist Paul Wilson.

Report here



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