Barbieri granted parole over manslaughter of NSW Police officer

Fiona Barbieri will be released on parole after a forensic psychiatrist found her mental health had stabilised while she was behind bars. Picture: AAP Image/Dan HimbrechtsSource:Supplied

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Cop killer Fiona Barbieri will be released on parole two years before her sentence expires so she can undergo heavy scrutiny while she reintegrates with society. Barbieri and her son Mitchell killed detective Inspector Bryson Anderson during a lengthy siege at their home in Oakville in Sydney’s northwest on December 6, 2012. The Barbieris were armed with swords, molotov cocktails and barbed wire.

Police were called to the home after Mitchell Barbieri fired arrows out of the house. When police tried to storm the property through the back door, Mitchell Barbieri picked up a large hunting knife and stabbed Insp Anderson in the chest and face. Fiona Barbieri used a sledgehammer to attack an officer who was trying to calm down her son.

During her sentencing for manslaughter, Fiona Barbieri was found to have been suffering a substantial impairment of an abnormality of the mind when the siege occurred. Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network psychiatrist Dr Gordon Elliott submitted to the State Parole Authority that during her time in jail Fiona Barbieri had been scrupulously compliant with medication and treatment and her mental health had significantly stabilised.

Dr Elliott said Fiona Barbieri had no symptoms of psychosis or other mental health problems following a psychiatric assessment in May and was a “low risk for violent offending and offending generally.

The State Parole Authority said it had decided to grant parole to the convicted killer in the hope she would be able to reintegrate into the community under a watchful eye. It also noted this would bring heartache to the Anderson family. To the Anderson family and NSW Police, the SPA extended its sincerest sympathy for the immeasurable loss of Detective Insp Bryson Anderson, acknowledging the pain and suffering of the Anderson family and his police colleagues, adding that no sentence handed down by the courts would ever compensate for the loss of his life.

Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network psychiatrist Dr Gordon Elliott submitted to the State Parole Authority that during her time in jail Fiona Barbieri had been scrupulously compliant with medication and treatment, and her mental health had significantly stabilised.

Dr Elliott said Fiona Barbieri had no symptoms of psychosis or other mental health problems following a psychiatric assessment in May and was a low risk for violent offending and offending generally.

The State Parole Authority said it had decided to grant parole to the convicted killer in the hope she would be able to reintegrate into the community under a watchful eye. It also noted this would bring heartache to the Anderson family. To the Anderson family and NSW Police, the SPA extended its sincerest sympathy for the immeasurable loss of Detective Insp Bryson Anderson, acknowledging the pain and suffering of the Anderson family and his police colleagues, adding that no sentence handed down by the courts would ever compensate for the loss of his life.

Fiona Barbieri will be under 18 strict conditions when she re-enters society. They will determine who she can contact, where she can go and the level at which she will be monitored. The Sydney woman will not be able to contact her son, who was also convicted of Insp Anderson’s murder, use drugs or any substances not prescribed or visit the Hawesbury Local Government Area where the murder took place the Hills Shire, Parramatta City or the Wollondilly Shire. She will be subject to random checks and visits from parole supervisors and may not contact Insp Anderson’s family.