MARCUS Stanford, the twin brother of the man who murdered school teacher Stephanie Scott, has been freed from the Junee jail.
Stanford hid in the back of a silver four-wheel-drive believed to be driven by his mother, going past waiting media camped at the gates of the Junee Correctional Centre this morning.
Stanford, who pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact of Ms Scott’s murder, was released after serving a 15-month fixed term jail sentence handed down on August 24 but backdated to June 15 last year when he went into custody.
The release of the 25-year-old comes after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) decided not to lodge a leniency appeal against the sentence.
Tens of thousands of people signed a change.org petition calling on the DPP to appeal against a sentence.
A street rally calling for an appeal was also held last week in Leeton, the town where 26-year-old Ms Scott was murdered on Easter Sunday last year by Stanford’s twin brother, Vincent.
Vincent Stanford has pleaded guilty to murder and is listed for sentencing in October, at this stage in Griffith.
Earlier this year he pleaded guilty to murdering Ms Scott, a popular English and drama teacher, at Leeton High School.
Ms Scott was one week away from her wedding when she was killed by Stanford, who was employed as a cleaner at the high school.
Stanford took Ms Scott’s body from the school.
A massive search was mounted for Ms Scott after she was reported missing.
The search ended tragically with the discovery of Ms Scott’s burnt body in Cocoparra National Park on April 10 and the arrest of Stanford.
