Luke Noormets: Bikie who murdered ex-partner Georgia Lyall freed from jail two years early

The bikie who brutally murdered his estranged partner then took his own life was released from jail two years early after he was able to convince authorities he was a “model prisoner”. Luke Noormets had been jailed for seven years for the shocking kidnap and torture of a drug-dealer and was not due to be freed until June 2024. But he was let out of prison by the Prisoners Review Board in June last year. 13 months later the former Rebels bikie nominee shot Georgia Lyall in a shocking murder-suicide that has left their young son an orphan. The West Australian can reveal Noormets was a convicted drug trafficker with a rap sheet two pages long who was also jailed for three years and 10 months for selling methamphetamine in May 2012. It can also be revealed the 33-year-old was considered to be a “person of trust” inside jail and even received a letter of reference from former Corrective Services Commissioner Tony Hassall commending him for his work with other prisoners. The revelations come after it emerged Noormets had called Triple-0 alerting them that someone had been shot at the South Guildford address where Ms Lyall’s body was found. It is believed he had shot the mother of his son in the head. He was then seen fleeing the South Guildford house on a motorcycle about the time of the incident. Less than an hour later, firefighters were called to his Innaloo unit about 30km away, where first responders then found his body inside. It is understood Noormets suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head and that a handgun was found with him. He did not have a gun license. According to court documents obtained by The West Australian, Noormets was considered to be a model prisoner who made a “remarkable turnaround” while he was awaiting his trial and sentencing. He also desperately wanted to be freed from jail so he could build a bigger family with Ms Lyall, who is understood to have visited Noormets regularly while he was locked up. During his sentencing hearing in September 2019, Noormets’ then lawyer, Richard Utting (who no longer practices), told the WA District Court his client was not what he expected. “I thought that I’d be meeting some thuggish representative of a criminal class,” Mr Utting told Judge Troy Sweeney. “When I saw him in Casuarina, I was surprised to find him to be a polite, considerate, intelligent, pleasant young man.” Mr Utting went on to reveal that since his arrest in June 2017 for the abduction and torture of Jack Tonta over a minor drug debt, Noormets, who was a methamphetamine addict, had made a “remarkable turnaround” and “addressed the underlying issues”. “He’s been helping other people,” Mr Utting told the court. “And you’ll see one of the letters that was provided to Your Honour is a reference from Mr (Tony) Hassall, who is the Commissioner of Corrective Services, thanking him for the help he’s been doing. He’s been helping other prisoners. “So as well as addressing his fundamental issues, he’s also helping others. And you’ll see by the various roles he’s held in the prison, he’s a person of trust. He’s trusted by the prison authorities to do very good work in orientation of new prisoners coming in, running AA and NA sessions. And he really has demonstrated an ability to address those issues and to make significant progress in addressing them.” The court was told Noormets was on the 12 Step Program at the time and was focused on rehabilitating himself. He was also looking forward to building a life with Ms Lyall, Mr Utting added. “They want to have other children if they can,” he told the court. “So some light at the end of the tunnel for him. “As you will see from the letter from Georgia Lyall, who is his partner, they have a young child. The child was born while Mr Noormets was in custody. But that seems to be a positive relationship. “And it gives him a sense of responsibility and determination that, when released, to make sure he doesn’t mess it up the way he did when he was previously incarcerated.” Noormets was ultimately sentenced to seven years for the crimes committed against Tonta – who also happened to be Ms Lyall’s ex-boyfriend – with Judge Sweeney describing him as the “principal offender” who carried out most of the “cold-blooded torture”. She also made him eligible for parole after serving five years. Under the instruction of former Rebel Steven Taylor, Noormets lured Tonta to an address in Ashfield where he hit him over the head then bundled him into his own car before driving him to a warehouse in Bayswater to torture him. He then hog-tied Tonta with black cable ties, beat him with a torch and pole then poured petrol on him and set him on fire briefly causing first and second-degree burns to Tonta’s legs. A short time later Noormets and Taylor pulled his head out of the boot of the car, placed a cloth on his face and poured water over it in a technique known as waterboarding. The overall assault lasted more than 13 hours. Tonta managed to escape the following morning by using a wheel brace to break out of the boot, then an axe to free his hands before climbing through a small bathroom window at the front of the warehouse. Taylor was jailed for six years, he was released on parole in June this year. His then girlfriend Jessica Atkinson, who was also involved in the assault, was jailed for 18 months.