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“NSW just became a more dangerous place for women to live,” the Barlows said in a statement to the Herald.
“Politicians are not serious about protecting women.”
The Barlows had not been advised, formally, of Holohan’s parole hearing last year until four days prior, due to cracks in the Victims Register.
The register could not contact the Barlows because they did not opt in back in 2009 – the Barlows deny ever being contacted.
“If we had known 12 months ago that he was up for parole … maybe we could have done something more to protect the community from this animal,” the Barlows said on Wednesday.
“We feel incredibly sorry for the family of his next victim.”
The SPA said it considered reports by the Serious Offenders Review Council, psychiatric experts and Community Corrections – all of whom had pushed for Holohan’s release.
But the authority also took into account Barlow’s words, which she had rushed to cobble together in a few, frantic days last week.
Barlow and the commissioner for Corrective Services urged the authority to keep Holohan behind bars.
Samantha Barlow pictured in 2011. She returned to work after the attack, but has now left the force.Credit: Photographic
“Why are we even considering letting him back into the community we all live in?” Barlow asked the hearing last Thursday, the first time she had locked eyes with Holohan in 15 years.
“Surely, he has no right to any form of freedom until he has served 100 per cent of his sentence.”
Holohan’s attack ended the police careers of both her and Laurence, through diagnoses of PTSD.
Barlow was a rising star in the NSW Police and had been earmarked as a potential commissioner.
She was also the third woman to survive a brutal attack by Holohan.
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The first was on his ex-partner, a stabbing, in the late 1990s. The second was on a stranger in shockingly similar circumstances – he clubbed the back of her head with a blunt instrument while on parole.
Community Corrections, however, was concerned Holohan needed to be paroled to engage in reintegration programs.
“Should he not be released at this juncture, there is a possibility that he will be unable to participate,” its report says.
“Such occurrence could further institutionalise Mr Holohan and could attribute to a further distrust in authority.”
Holohan will be released from custody between November 20 and 27.
He will be supervised until the end of his sentence in February 2029.
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