Outrageous sentence for killer

Brendan James Sokaluk is a monster. He is responsible for the deaths of 10 innocent people during the Black Saturday bushfires. In essence, he is a murderer. Some people will argue he is not really a killer, because he did not premeditate the killings. Murder does not have to be premeditated. If someone sets out to rob a bank, but is confronted by a policeman and shoots them, that is not premeditated, but is still murder. They would be treated by the courts justly, and in NSW jailed for life. No questions. Senior Constable David Rixon was shot dead in March during a routine traffic stop in Coledale in Tamworth. His killing was not planned, but the actions of a drug dealer, Michael Alan Jacobs who panicked.

Sentencing Brendan James Sokaluk was ''extremely difficult'', claimed Justice Paul Coghlan, because Sokaluk suffered from ''autism'' and ''border-line mental impairment''. If Sokaluk's ''mental impairment'' is so severe he cannot tell the difference from right and wrong, he is likely to offend again. In only 14 years, Sokaluk could be roaming free, starting more fires and destroying the lives of more people. This loser lit the fire from two points, and was found by the jury to have told lies to cover his tracks. To add to his crimes, this creature was also charged with possession of child pornography.

People who have worked with Sokaluk say he often pretends to be more impaired than he really is. Someone who has known Sokaluk for years said he is as ''cunning as a fox''. He was not diagnosed with autism until after the crime. One neighbour said he used to light fires in his backyard ''four or five times a week''. It has been alleged by a source that he said after the Port Arthur massacre in 1996 that if anyone did anything to him he'd ''shoot youse all''. He reportedly often remined people he knew where they lived. It had often been asked of Sokaluk if he was a firebug or a pyromaniac. The source claims he just smirked when asked. According to a former colleague, Sokaluk wasn't slow but was ''vindictive'' and ''very threatening''. He was good at making everyone else's job ''hell''. Another former colleague says Sokaluk admitted to playing up his disabilities for advantage in certain settings and said he ''wasn't stupid''.

Instead of letting this creature roam free potentially after only 14 years, he should be facing life imprisonment. Otherwise, he's a prime candidate for the death penalty, as many of his victims have called for.

Scum: Brendan James Sokaluk

Sokaluk with his burnt-out car