One of Australia’s most high profile inmates is suing corrective services and the state government for $2million in an explosive civil case.
Convicted baby killer Keli Lane’s case centres on claims she was bullied in jail after complaining about prison officers.
A one-time Olympic water polo hopeful, Lane was convicted in 2010 of murdering her baby daughter Tegan in Sydney two days after she was born in September 1996. Tegan’s body has never been found.
She was sentenced to a maximum 18 years jail with a minimum of 13 years and five months, which expired in May last year.
But Lane’s anticipated release was blocked by the now mandatory ‘no body no parole’ law introduced to keep wife killer Chris Dawson behind bars.
The 49-year-old is suing NSW Corrections Minister Anoulack Chanthivong and the state’s Corrections Commissioner Leon Taylor, claiming she has faced regular harassment in jail.
In papers lodged with the NSW Supreme Court, Lane claimed she was targeted because of her crime, the media interest in the case and for her ‘continual fight for innocence’, the Daily Telegraph reported.
She told the court when she appeared via videolink on Tuesday that she will make two claims – one for personal damages and the other seeking a judicial review into her case.
Keli Lane (pictured) claims she was bullied in jail after complaining about prison officers
Lane said targeting a prisoner was known as ‘therapy’ and included the trashing of their cell and possessions and hampering visits, mail and phone calls to ‘teach inmates a lesson’.
Representing herself in the videolink from Bolwara Transitional Centre, Lane requested an adjournment to allow more time for her to brief a lawyer.
She told the court one of the biggest challenges is that all her correspondence with the outside world was screened Corrective Services NSW, which she is suing.
‘Being in custody, my documents are being read by the same people I’m up against,’ Lane told the court.
‘I’m representing myself, and the difficulty I’m finding is that it’s a live issue – these issues are still occurring and I’ve been frustrated for two years trying to mediate this situation.’
Lane has been a model prisoner behind bars.
In her written pleading to the court lodged last year, Lane addressed her brief stint with the outside world.
Keli Lane (pictured) was convicted in 2010 of murdering her baby daughter Tegan in Sydney two days after she was born in September 1996
She had been working on a dairy farm on day release but was caught using a mobile phone in February 2024.
She had been moved to a transitional centre in Sydney’s north-west in August 2023 as she neared the end of her non-parole period.
But after breaking the conditions of her day release, she was sent back behind bars in maximum security at Silverwater prison.
Lane claimed the prison service approved her having a phone for ‘work and personal use’.
She also claimed she was wrongly accused of travelling 5km away from her workplace.
Convicted baby killer Keli Lane is pictured in 2023, before she was reclassified as a higher security prisoner
The incident saw her reclassified as a higher security prisoner and her right to work, earn money and on on weekend leave was taken away from her.
The matter was adjourned to April 2.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Corrective Services NSW and the minister for comment.
Lane’s full sentence of 18 years will expire on December 12, 2028.
