Keli Lane, the woman convicted of murdering her newborn daughter Tegan in 1996, has been refused parole after more than 13 years in jail. The New South Wales State Parole Authority rejected her first bid for release on Friday, citing the state's 'no body, no parole' laws introduced in 2022.
The parole authority stated it was not satisfied that Lane had cooperated satisfactorily in police investigations to locate Tegan's body. Lane, now 48, was sentenced to a maximum of 18 years in 2010 and became eligible for parole on 12 May this year.
Lane has always maintained she gave Tegan to the infant's father, a man named Andrew Norris or Morris, shortly after giving birth at Sydney's Auburn hospital. However, extensive police investigations failed to find Tegan or the man she identified.
The 'no body, no parole' laws were enacted in response to the murder of Sydney mother Lynette Dawson. They require the parole board to consider a report from the police commissioner on an offender's cooperation in locating a victim's body before granting parole.
NSW Greens MP Sue Higginson described Lane as 'effectively a political prisoner', arguing the law undermines rehabilitation and further punishes those who have served their time. Higginson compared Lane's case to that of Kathleen Folbigg, whose convictions for killing her four children were quashed last year.
Lane's legal team argued her conviction was based on circumstantial evidence with no DNA, witnesses, or cause of death established. Higginson said the criminal justice system is biased against mothers accused of killing their babies, and called for Lane's release.
