Robert Black Farmer has been denied parole, keeping the man who attacked Lauren Huxley in prison after a case that has shadowed her family for nearly two decades. The NSW State Parole Authority ruled on Thursday that Farmer will not be released, citing his ongoing denial and concerns about community protection.

Huxley was 18 in November 2005 when Farmer entered her home in Northmead in western Sydney, bound and beat her, doused her in petrol and left her for dead. After leaving her in a pool of blood and petrol, he set the property alight. She survived with horrific injuries, including permanent brain damage.

Farmer was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison in 2008. He will not be considered for release again until the anniversary of that sentence in 2027. The parole authority said it was acting on advice from the Serious Offenders Review Council, which recommended one-on-one risk mitigation sessions with a psychologist because of the horrific nature of his violent offence and his ongoing denial.

The authority said Farmer has completed two offender programs, but has not taken part in the Violent Offenders Therapeutic Program. It said, “We are not satisfied that his release to parole is sufficient for his re-integration and the protection of the public,” adding that it “recognises the profound and enduring harm caused to Lauren and her family by this offending,” and that “we understand the concerns they have raised and that of the community.”

The case returned to public attention in 2025 when the ABC’s Australian Story revisited the assault. That renewed scrutiny placed the focus again on a family that the parole authority said has continued to show advocacy and strength in the decades since the attack. The refusal to grant parole means Farmer remains behind bars for now, with the next review date still years away and the injuries to Huxley still defining the case.