Martin Graeme Coates: Mum’s anguish over whether ‘hot shot’ kingpin will be back on streets

The parole board has recommended that the man convicted of the heroin “hot shot” murder of a young woman inside a Rivervale hotel room be allowed to take the first steps towards his release from prison. Martin Graeme Coates was back before the Prisoners’ Review Board last week which said it would recommend to Attorney-General John Quigley that he be able to participate in a resocialisation program. Coates was convicted of murdering Clare Garabedian, 21, who was injected with a fatal dose of heroin and smothered with a pillow in a plot to eliminate her as a witness in a case involving Coates and his girlfriend Amanda Kaylene Hoy in 1998. He was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 23 years. Coates paid $2000 to a contract killer, dubbed “Mr X”, and when the dose he gave her failed to kill her Coates delivered two further amounts of heroin to the room. During the killing, Ms Garabedian struggled as Mr X forced the needle into her arm, while another man, Thomas Nicholls, smothered her. Earlier this year, Ms Garabedian’s mother, Jan Garabedian, who considers Coates to be the “driving force” behind the crime, spoke of her concern about the prospect of killer being able to walk free among the WA community. She said she did not support Coates’ participation in a re-socialisation program. In her submission to the PRB, she said: “I strongly feel that Coates should stay in prison until at least 6 October 2023 (earliest parole eligibility) then hopefully be deported as soon as he is released from prison.” While authorities refuse to confirm Coates’ citizenship status, it is the understanding of Mrs Garabedian, and that of police sources, that he is not an Australian citizen and therefore should be deported to the UK when he finishes his sentence. That also means that if Mr Quigley and Governor Chris Dawson decide Coates should participate in the resocialisation program, he could be transferred to a minimum-security facility, however he will not be able to step foot outside it. “A life-sentenced prisoner who is not an Australian citizen is eligible for a re-socialisation program and can be placed in a minimum security prison,” a Department of Justice spokesman said. “However, under the Prisons Act 1981, they are not able to participate in external activities including Section 95 external activities, home leave and the prisoner employment program.” Mrs Garabedian said while she believed Coates did not have Australian citizenship because of information that arose in court, she has struggled to get this confirmed, which has left her anxious. “I just wish that we could be told about this. Everyone else seems to know — the police, the Governor, the parole board and everyone else. They must know his nationality. But why are they keeping it a secret?” she said. “Why can’t it be said, at least to me, I just can’t get any answers.” Mrs Garabedian said the feeling she got when Coates’ co-accused Nicholls was released from prison was “horrible”. “So to know how I would feel now if Coates got out, the main murderer . . . it’s a nightmare,” she said. “It’s not fair, I’ve done nothing wrong, and what the three, four of them have done, it’s changed my life. Why protect him any longer?” A spokeswoman for Mr Quigley said he had not yet received the PRB’s report.