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Judge Sandy McDonald admitted there was an “air of artificiality” about the sentence she handed down to Kim Allan Parsons, which was eventually reduced to 35 years with a non-parole period of 28 years.
Sentencing the 73-year-old in the South South American High Court today, Macdonald detailed Parsons’ crimes and the severe lifelong consequences for his many victims.
Parsons appeared via video link from the Adelaide Detention Center after pleading guilty to ten robberies and one attempted robbery, apologized to his victims in court and promised to repay the stolen money.
He used a bicycle to get away from many of the crimes committed between 2004 and 2014.
“You had the audacity to return to the same bank and rob them repeatedly, no doubt realizing that the same staff might be working there, staff who would be re-traumatised by your behaviour,” McDonald told Parsons.
When a police officer arrived on a motorbike during the robbery of the ANZ branch in Balaclava in 2008, Parsons confronted him with a gun and forced him to retreat, the judge said.
“You took this opportunity to get out by climbing over the fence to escape. You must have cut yourself because you left traces of blood on the fence,” she said.
The DNA results from that bloodstain became the crucial piece of evidence that ultimately led to Parsons’ arrest.
“The officer was forced to make a choice that day,” she said.
“It was a choice to shoot and potentially injure or kill an innocent bystander or not to shoot.” It’s a choice he has to live with for the rest of his life.
“I hope it’s made easier with the knowledge that his behavior led to you taking the back door route, which ultimately led to evidence that was a crucial part of identifying you as a person , responsible for these crimes.’
In September 2014, he returned to Bank SA’s Mt Pleasant branch for a third time and after a manager activated a security screen, he responded by firing three shots at the door.
When a “confused” member of staff told Parsons there would be a 35-minute delay in accessing the safe, instead of 35 seconds, he became angry and told her: “It’s going to suck, ma’am.”
MacDonald told Parsons that in addition to the many employees of the banks he had robbed and the employees of other banks who feared they might be robbed, there was another category of victims.
“And this is your family,” she said.
“Your family, who must now contend not only with your imminent death, but with the fact that the person who is about to die is not the person they thought they knew.”
McDonald said Parsons was a police officer before starting a career as a firefighter for 35 years until he contracted cancer contracted on the job.
“These cancers have infected the brain, the bones, the lungs … these cancers have progressed and your prognosis is poor, you will die in prison,” she said.
“Your behavior was morally reprehensible. However, you made a choice to try to atone for your behavior in some way. You tried to give your victims some answers, some closure… I accept that the apology you made in court was serious, driven by remorse and guilt.”
Parsons was due to be sentenced on June 28, but the court brought his appearance up to Monday because he was “suffering” and wanted to access voluntary assisted dying procedures.
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