• e-mail

Henry Hammond ought never have been released onto the streets of Melbourne to kill and now could be free in a matter of years, if not months.

It's a cliche often overused by media in a state that has become accustomed to killers being cut loose by a broken justice system. 

Only this time, it literally happened. 

Melbourne woman Courtney Herron was so savagely bashed by Henry Hammond that the mortician could not put her broken body back together. 

John Herron and his daughter Courtney in happier times. She was savagely murdered by Henry Hammond, who was found not guilty through mental impairment 

A lonely spot to die: The body of Courtney Herron was found bloody and beaten between these logs. It is a lonely and cold spot off the beaten track. Courtney's life had been tough and her ending was anything but happy

A young Courtney Herron. She was brutally murdered by Henry Hammond, who will not face justice over the shocking crime 

Just months earlier, Hammond had been left on the footpath of Melbourne's gritty streets by the authorities Victorians pay to keep them safe.

The homeless son of wealthy investment banker Murray Hammond had been gifted a lucky break after another savage attack on a woman. 

On Monday, Hammond was declared not guilty over the horrific murder of Ms Herron. 

Hammond had pleaded not guilty by mental impairment earlier this year. 

It's a legal defence put up by monsters within Victoria's Supreme Court with some regularity. 

Two others accused of the savage murders of women are now going through the court on the very same plea.  Legal reasons prevent Daily Mail Australia from detailing the cases. 

Bourke Street killer James Gargasoulas, whose horrific rampage left six dead in January 2017, tried it on and failed. 

But unlike his, Hammond's plea was not opposed by the Office of Public Prosecutions director Kerry Judd, QC.

Ms Herron's body was found in between logs by three dog walkers in Royal Park in Parkville in May, 2019.

Hammond had smashed her head in during a frenzied attack which lasted close to an hour. 

The brute was supposed to be behind bars serving a 10-month sentence over the August 2018 assault of another woman. 

But a month before he would kill Ms Herron, he was released on a Community Correction Order after successfully appealing to the County Court that his imprisonment was 'manifestly excessive'.

Courtney Herron was beaten to death in an attack that went for almost an hour. Her father John Herron has been denied justice 

John Herron (centre) embraces his daughter Courtney (left) in happier times

John Herron has slammed prosecutors for failing to chase justice for his daughter 

Judge John Carmody had released him into the care of Corrections Victoria  in the hope he could be managed and obtain drug and mental health treatment. 

Hammond's millionaire father had made a whirlwind trip from Sydney to Melbourne to pledge his support for his wayward son and promised he would find him a temporary home. 

Two-and-a-half hours later, dad boarded a plane back to Sydney.    

Mr Hammond told the court: 'I just (want) Henry to enjoy his life and you know, don’t hurt anyone ever again.' 

Victoria's prisons are full of the homeless who often remain behind bars well past their release dates because they have no fixed address of which to be released. 

The OPP had assured Judge Carmody Hammond was not only suitable for the community order, but that appropriate monitoring would be in place. 

Corrections Victoria had approved Hammond for the order despite him having no stable accommodation. 

A well-placed source within Victoria's justice department told Daily Mail Australia the entire saga should be independently reviewed. 

'It's highlighted a series of failures across the board,' he said.  

A spokeswoman for Corrections Victoria refused to respond to Daily Mail Australia's questions, instead directing inquiries to the County Court of Victoria. 

Ms Herron's devastated father, John Herron, told Daily Mail Australia his daughter's soon-to-be killer was dumped on Flinders Lane, in the heart of Melboune's CBD, and forgotten. 

'Because his parents had money, his defence and the appeal was privately funded,' Mr Herron said. 

A former Victorian Legal Aid lawyer himself, Mr Herron said Hammond would never have been funded by the taxpayer to launch an appeal over the savage domestic violence offence. 

Three weeks before Hammond's release from jail, he refused to participate in a psychiatric assessment.

Mr Herron said that's one of several monumental blunders that ultimately saw the ice-fuelled Hammond go onto become a killer. 

A crime he will never face justice over, Mr Herron said. 

'I can't believe he could be released without a psychiatric report in the County Court,' Mr Herron said. 

'Then he got released to no fixed address.'

At Hammond's court hearing in April last year, Judge Carmody was told Hammond's previous address had been 'the sand dunes at Byron Bay'. 

'He was released back onto the street. No fixed address,' Mr Herron said. 

Courtney (left) and John Herron in happier times 

A young Courtney Herron (right) frolics in the trees with her friend Kalinda Brown (left)

Mr Herron, who is himself a criminal lawyer, accused the OPP of abandoning his daughter by consenting to her killer's 'not guilty' plea without a fight. 

The decision followed defence and prosecution psychiatric reports on Hammond's mental state supplied by the Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health.

'The Gargasoulas case was identical to this guy. He had been on a three day ice binge and schizophrenia, but the judge deemed him fit to stand trial,' Mr Herron said. 

'The reason we are here is because the (Director) of Public Prosecutions put up the white flag a year ago. That's the only reason.'

Mr Herron said Hammond was an experienced conman when it came to faking mental illness and had been determined not to return to jail following a previous bad experience. 

Hammond had convinced doctors he had believed he was the Norse God Odin and that he feared Ms Herron - a woman he had only just met - was possessed and would kill him.

Courtney Herron in another happy snap provided by her father John

Henry Hammond, a 27-year-old homeless man, was charged with Courtney's murder. He was found not guilty without a fight

'I believe he's scamming for a couple of reasons,' Mr Herron said. 'All of a sudden when he's in trouble he bangs on about "Odin's possessed me" ... he knows he's done it and he's gone: "I'd rather do it in the psyche ward, I'm not going to plead guilty, no way". I know a criminal and I know this guy is scamming.'

Mr Herron said while a lot of money had been spent on keeping Hammond out of jail, none had been spent on getting him treatment for his supposed mental issues. 

'Ice is an issue with him. He took ice three times a day and killed my daughter yet supposedly that wasn't a determining factor,' Mr Herron said. 

Hammond had been on an ice bender in the weeks leading up to the horrific execution of Ms Herron. 

'Just like Gargasoulas. He's just sitting there waiting to kill someone,' Mr Herron said. 

'And now the state is spending more resources to make the whole thing go away then actually prosecuting the case.'

Mr Herron said Gargasoulas and Jill Meagher's killer Adrian Bayley - who was free on parole when he raped and murdered Melbourne woman Jill Meagher in 2012 - were prosecuted to the full extent of the law because they were poor. 

'They were from the wrong side of the tracks. This guy isn't. If he was from Broadmeadows, he would have been doing much longer sentences for his first offences in Victoria - he's got NSW priors against women. He would still be in jail now as we speak,' Mr Herron said. 

'He's rolled the dice and it's come in his favour. He was on a hiding to nothing. He went straight to a judge only trial. It was carefully calculated and the white flag went up.'

In letters seen by Daily Mail Australia, OPP director Kerry Judd, QC expresses frustration with Mr Herron's objections to her acceptance of Hammond's not guilty plea. 

'I appreciate that you do not accept my decision and accept that this has had a profound effect on you and your family, but I do not have any further information to provide to you,' she wrote on August 11.

The OPP had not responded to Daily Mail Australia at time of going to publication.