Snowtown killer would 'likely' be jailed again if he failed drug test

The youngest of the Snowtown serial killers would "likely" go back to prison if he failed a drug test while on parole, the chair of the SA Parole Board has said.A decision to release so-called "bodies-in-the-barrels" killer James Spyridon Vlassakis was upheld earlier this week, when an SA government attempt to block parole was rejected.The Parole Administrative Review Commissioner, David Lovell KC, found the Attorney-General failed to establish that reasons existed to overturn the board's decision to grant parole.Parole Board chair Frances Nelson KC this morning told 891 ABC Adelaide that Vlassakis currently remained in prison, but would "at some point" be moved to the Adelaide Pre-release Centre."We automatically do that with every life-sentence prisoner because it allows for a period of adjustment," she said.Vlassakis was 18 when, in 1998, he took part in the murder of his half-brother Troy Youde, before he later pleaded guilty to four of the Snowtown killings.He was jailed for life but, because he helped authorities, was given a 26-year non-parole period.A court sketch of Vlassakis from 2026. (Supplied)In upholding the position of the Parole Board, Mr Lovell noted that it was a condition of Vlassakis's parole that he would be "subject to random drug testing".Ms Nelson acknowledged that Vlassakis had tested positive to drugs several times in jail, but said it was "quite likely" that he would be sent back to prison if he failed a drug or alcohol test while on parole."We take that sort of thing fairly seriously," she said."He doesn't have a drug problem currently that we can see."Parole conditions outlinedMs Nelson said Vlassakis would be the subject of what she called "standard conditions" of parole, including a curfew."He'll have to report weekly to [a] community corrections officer and he has a very experienced officer in charge of his case," she said.Frances Nelson KC says Vlassakis will be liable to random drug and alcohol testing. (ABC News: Lincoln Rothall)"He can't leave the state without parole board permission, he can't contact any of the victims' families, there are some geographical exclusion areas where he cannot go, because of proximity of victims' families."He is liable to random drug and alcohol testing, he must obey the conditions at the pre-release centre [and] he'll be sent off for psychological intervention."The Parole Board chair acknowledged that there would be "potential threats to him", which she said had been carefully considered."He is well known. He'll get media attention, which most people don't get," Ms Nelson said.The decision to approve Vlassakis's release has been "very distressing" for families of those he murdered by the Snowtown killers, Commissioner for Victims' Rights Sarah Quick said."Despite the fact that they had prepared themselves for this outcome, the news still really came as a shock," she told ABC News Breakfast."It did result in anxiety and grief."Vlassakis pleaded guilty to four of the murders. (Supplied)Ms Quick said that, as a life-sentence prisoner, Vlassakis would be permanently under parole conditions."If Mr Vlassakis breached his parole conditions, my office would become involved again and contact the victims," she said.