Neo-Nazi prisoner free in weeks

(Thanks to Sandi for alerting us to this) from Herald Sun: by Mark Buttler and Paul Anderson
10sep05 ...

A NEO-Nazi axe murderer who boasted of waging a bloody race war on Melbourne streets will be free within weeks.

Dane Sweetman, who bashed Asians and gays, and firebombed synagogues, was granted parole after a hearing in June. It was his first bid for parole and will save him from another five years in jail. Sweetman, 36, will be released from Fulham Prison, Gippsland, on October 3.

...He has been behind bars since 1990 when he killed Adelaide man David Noble with an axe at a party to celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday. A year later, on the day he was sentenced in the Supreme Court, he sparked a security furore by plunging a home-made knife into the dock.
Sweetman also has convictions for a sex offence, attempted murder, malicious wounding, possessing a pistol, intentionally causing serious injury and assault with a weapon.

...A source said Sweetman started his jail term as an uncooperative, violent and foul-mouthed prisoner, but had kept out of trouble in recent years. Another source said Sweetman still believed in the neo-Nazi movement.
The source said Sweetman was a feared individual who, he hoped, would walk from prison a changed man, but had a reputation of contempt for authority. "He has shown contempt for the system. I would not like to be his parole officer," the source said. "I have heard Sweetman is still very feared within the prison system, and still holds true to neo-Nazi views."

The source said Sweetman was known to harbour a hatred of police. Sweetman became a neo-Nazi while in prison in the years before the Noble murder. He and fellow extremists in Pentridge Prison formed a group called The Guard. Internet references suggest that he may have supporters in the community.

...Sweetman's hate-filled jail diaries said he wanted to kill drug users, doctors, teachers, police, priests, pornographers and homosexuals. He boasted that the day after his 1989 release, he firebombed a synagogue. ....