FRAIL, sick and lonely, gangland widow Judy Moran will find jail time hard going and may well die behind bars

FRAIL, sick and lonely, gangland widow Judy Moran will find jail time hard going and may well die behind bars, a court has been told.

Defence barrister Bill Stuart told Justice Lex Lasry that Moran was an ‘‘old’’ 66-year-old  whose vast medical issues, including a blood disorder and thyroid problem, would make prison more burdensome.

Moran, who uses an electric wheelchair, also needs hip and knee replacements but has failed  until now to get the required treatment, the Victorian Supreme Court pre-sentence hearing was told.
She was found guilty in March of orchestrating the execution of her brother-in-law Des ‘‘Tuppence’’ Moran, who was gunned down at an Ascot Vale cafe in 2009.

Mr Stuart asked Justice Lasry to jail Moran for less than the usual minimum term given her poor health and the expectation it would worsen behind bars.

‘‘She is a woman who at the age of 66 is, if I can put it bluntly, an old woman for the age of 66,’’ he said.

‘‘That is a significant matter in terms of how she will cope within the prison system.

‘‘There is every reason to expect as a high probability that ... she will die in custody.’’

Mr Stuart said Moran had a flamboyant persona that had masked her grief over losing two husbands and two sons in gangland murders.

This was compounded by the death of her parents within two days of each other, he said.

Since her arrest in  2009, Moran has had no contact with her four grandchildren.

‘‘My client is alone, save for one friend,’’ Mr Stuart said.

Moran had post traumatic stress disorder, nightmares, survivor’s guilt and depression, he added.

Her anxiety increased after she was moved from a mainstream unit at Dame Phyllis Frost centre to isolation following an incident.

Justice Lasry described the Tuppence killing as a carefully planned and ‘‘particularly bad murder’’.

Prosecutor Hayley Bate submitted Moran’s crime was motivated by greed and hatred. Her remorseless offending was aggravated by her recruitment of others in the execution, Ms Bate said.

She said  the crime occurred in  public  and Moran was directly involved, driving the getaway car then hiding and  disposing of weapons and a vehicle.

Justice Lasry  noted putting a prisoner into isolation for ‘‘calming purposes’’ had an ‘‘Orwellian tinge’’. Moran is to be sentenced at a later date.

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