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Offender Databases Ricky Frew

Ricky John Frew

Alias

.

Offences

The killing of Christine Bailey in Nelson in March 2002.
Had earlier been jailed for 6 months for holding a holding a knife to her throat and assaulting her.
He has 45 other convictions for various offences including violence.

Victims

Christine Bailey

Offender Affiliations

.

Gang affiliations

none known

Age

Born 1976

Current Location

Prison

Parole/Release Dates

Sentenced to life (thirteen years minimum) in September 2002
Eligible for parole from March 2015

Background
From the Nelson Mail 04/09/2002
Convicted murderer and recidivist offender Ricky John Frew will spend at least 13 years behind bars for killing Nelson woman Christine Bailey at her Brook St home in March. Setting Frew's minimum non-parole period in the High Court at Nelson today, Justice Ellis said: "It was a particularly vicious attack, and in my view a home invasion. ''The judge also revealed today that 26-year-old Frew had a history of 45 convictions for various offences, including violence, extending back to 1994. Frew was sentenced to life imprisonment last week, but Crown prosecutor Glen Marshall applied for a longer non-parole period than the mandatory 10 years.Today, Justice Ellis extended the period Frew must spend in jail to 13 years.

Earlier court hearings were told that Frew attacked Ms Bailey, 47, with whom he had an 18-month abusive relationship, after he got home on the afternoon of March 21. He stomped on her face, breaking her teeth and jaw. He then took a large, serrated kitchen knife and stabbed her 11 times in the chest and once in the neck. Frew changed his plea to guilty to the charge of murder at the start of a planned depositions hearing in July. Justice Ellis accepted today that Frew had pleaded guilty at an early stage, and was remorseful for his action. However, he said Frew's crime had deeply and adversely affected many lives. Justice Ellis quoted from a statement made by the elder of Ms Bailey's two daughters, who had said it was "the most grotesque thing imaginable'' for a grown man to have done something like this to the most gentle woman.

The statement described Frew as a "very sneaky and calculating man'', a control freak with an anger problem. Justice Ellis agreed that Frew was a control freak with an extreme anger problem, and said the murder occurred through jealousy without cause. While he described Frew as not mentally ill, he had considerable potential for violence and a disordered personality. Defence lawyer Garry Barkle said there had been no premeditation in the attack on Ms Bailey, but Justice Ellis said Frew had done the most dreadful thing. The court was told earlier that police had been called to the couple's address many times, by independent witnesses and Ms Bailey herself. After one of these occasions, Frew had been sentenced to six months in prison for holding a knife to Ms Bailey's throat and assaulting her.

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Corrections and Additional Information
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