Pretoria - The killer of Bond University student Leigh Matthews has succeeded in his application to the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg to have the decision to deny him parole overturned.
Judge Stuart Wilson last Thursday ordered the parole board to hold a new hearing for Donovan Moodley by no later than March 31. It was also ordered that all reports and other documentation necessary for the parole hearing be completed by February 28.
Moodley was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2005 for the gruesome killing of Matthews and the extortion of her parents, Rob and Sharon Matthews.
They were opposed to Moodley’s application for parole as they felt he was not yet ready to be released.
While the parents refused to hold a victim and offender dialogue ahead of Moodley’s failed parole hearing, he told the court that he was agreeable to this dialogue.
Moodley became eligible to be considered for parole in June 2018, but the parole hearing was delayed. Moodley subsequently turned to court in an attempt to speed up the process.
He failed in his urgent bid and placed the matter on the normal court roll. The parole board, however, meanwhile held a hearing and refused parole following a six-and-a-half-hour hearing. It recommended that the matter be further examined by a social worker and a psychologist.
An aggrieved Moodley turned to the high court again and asked that the decision by the parole board be set aside. Moodley, who has obtained two law degrees while in prison, presented his own case to the court.
The case management committee earlier recommended to the parole board that Moodley be released on parole as he had met the criteria and had a good – although not flawless – disciplinary record.
The parole board, however, did not accept this recommendation.
Moodley argued to the court that the parole board’s proceedings “were a sham” and that he was never given the opportunity to be heard.
Judge Wilson said it was impossible to evaluate what happened at the parole board hearing, as the minutes of the proceedings were incoherent. Both the social worker and the psychologist who submitted reports to the parole board also recommended his release.
The judge said the parole board’s recommendations that he should not be released on parole constituted unlawful administrative action, given the recommendations before it by the psychologist, the social worker and the case management committee.
While Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola was the one who had to speak the last word on parole, as Moodley was serving a life sentence, the judge said the recommendation to him by the parole board was vital.
“It is possible that there was material before the parole board that might have justified its recommendation, but without an adequate minute of the hearing, that conclusion cannot be drawn,” said Judge Wilson.
Pretoria News