Marlon Noble — Imprisonment
880. Hon ALISON XAMON to the parliamentary secretary representing the Attorney General:
I refer to the ongoing incarceration and subsequent withdrawal of charges against Mr Marlon Noble.
(1) Is the Attorney General prepared to request a report from the Mentally Impaired Accused Review Board regarding the release of Mr Noble?
(2) If the Attorney General has already done so, will he table the report?
(3) If no to (1) or (2), why not?
(4) Is the Attorney General prepared to recommend to the Governor that Mr Marlon Noble be released?
(5) If no to (4), why not?
Hon MICHAEL MISCHIN replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question.
(1) The Attorney General requested a report from the Mentally Impaired Accused Review Board concerning Mr Marlon Noble on 28 March 2011. That report was provided on 10 May 2011. The Attorney General expects a further report concerning Mr Marlon Noble as soon as the board is made aware of a material change in the release considerations with respect to Mr Noble.
(2) No.
(3) Reports to the Attorney General deal with the release conditions of mentally impaired accused. They may contain a variety of sensitive information, including details of the accused’s impairment, their alleged offending, and the alleged victim. When reports are made to the Attorney General under the Criminal Law (Mentally Impaired Accused) Act 1996, they are provided to the accused and their lawyer or guardian. Consequently, the Attorney General does not consider that it would be responsible to make them publicly available.
(4)–(5) The Attorney General would consider any recommendation made by the board. At the time of the most recent report, the principal obstacle the board identified to Mr Noble being released was his need for continuous round-the-clock supervision to allow him to be safely released. Following provision of that report, the Attorney General and the Minister for Disability Services collectively agreed to fund such care, and a non-governmental organisation has worked to produce a plan for such care. That plan was completed and provided to the Department of Corrective Services for review on 12 October 2011. It will be submitted to the board shortly, and it will then make a report to the Attorney General for him to consider. I think that probably answers (5) as well.