Justice

Vince Focarelli – alleged leader of the feared New Boys street gang and, briefly, an Adelaide group of Comancheros bikies – had already walked away from three attempts on his life.

It seemed unlikely that those who wished him harm were about to stop trying.

Last weekend, Focarelli’s aura of invincibility was shattered with tragic results. A hail of gunfire left the man himself with a head wound and claimed the life of his son Giovanni, who was just 22.

Continue reading "Outlaw bikies cannot be judged outside the law" »

Commercial aviation is the safest form of travel because the industry has learnt from past accidents by abolishing the culture of blame.

The Costa Concordia disaster is the cruise ship industry’s chance to improve safety and ensure that avoidable tragedy never happens again, but that chance will be missed if only one man pays the price.

In Italian courtrooms there is a sign which suggests: La legge e’ uguale per tutti – the law is the same for everyone. There is no asterisk on the sign, though it should be noted the term “everyone: does in fact mean “everyone except some”, including former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who conveniently changed the law while in office to spare himself prosecution, and, more recently, the captain of the Costa Concordia Francesco Schettino, who shall be afforded no such privilege.

Continue reading "Law must navigate the treacherous social media seas" »

The biggest slap in my five months of house arrest came not at the start when the magistrate said he wanted to make it “as much like jail” as he could. It came only days from the end, at the hands of an elderly hospital volunteer, on one of my rare excursions into the real world.

As I walked into the foyer of the Austin Hospital for a check-up to see how my newly transplanted liver was behaving, the beaming, bespectacled old-timer asked how I was doing.

I said: “I feel great. Only 12 more days and I’m out of jail.” His mocking, condescending reply: “You weren’t in jail.” I felt like saying: “You try it, sunshine.”

Continue reading "The Human Headline:  Ungagged and unbowed" »

The Indonesian courts have, to an extent, belied their reputation for handing down extreme sentences. They have sentenced the 14-year-old Central Coast boy to two months in prison; of which he has already served about seven weeks.

The courts also showed their softer side earlier this year when they reduced Abu Bakar Bashir’s sentence on humanitarian grounds.

But Australians are still on death row for drug smuggling.

Continue reading "So the Bali boy will be outta the joint by Christmas…" »

So the crowd cheers, euphoric, as the ‘guilty’ judgement of Dr Conrad Murray is read out.

Michael Jackson’s fans will now be able to remember him untainted – they will forget that he was a drug abuser, a consummate weirdo, they will forget the grim and disturbing pictures of his deathbed. He will be again the child star turned genius. In death, he will be perfect.

Meanwhile, the cardiologist who pumped him full of powerful drugs, who – the jury heard – committed numerous acts of negligence not big enough to have him found guilty of gross negligence, will have an uncertain fate in gaol.

Continue reading "Guilty verdict in Jackson case not black and white" »

On the dirty, sweaty streets of South East Asia, you will be offered rickshaw rides and marijuana, ecstasy, or heroin; sex and sunglasses; young boys, young girls, and crappy jewellery; novelty lighters and nudie pics, and a range of other stuff you may or may not want.

In Asia, you are rich. The rupiah, dong, and baht overflow from your wallet, and you wade through districts of poverty, where the amount you’ve just spent on a night in a villa with a candelit pool is more than someone’s monthly wage. You are rich, and you can buy almost anything imaginable.

Even as a 14-year-old, in Bali for the first time – overseas for the first time - I was rich, and the locals knew it; they wanted to bargain, to barter, to plait my hair. Wanted to overcharge me for water, to shortchange me on fake cassette tapes (Google them, kiddies), and to sell me drugs.

Continue reading "Dope and dopes in Indonesia" »

Amanda Knox’s looks shouldn’t matter, but they do.

In court, it wasn’t just the university student who ended up in the dock, it was her image.

From the minute she was dubbed ‘Foxy Knoxy’ - the juvenile, nudge, nudge, wink, wink nickname given to her early on in her trial - to the fact that her boyish prison haircut made news, her whole trial has been read through the prism of her gender and appearance.

Continue reading "‘Foxy Knoxy’ and the shock of a hot chick in the dock" »

Senator Nick Xenophon says he faced a “serious moral dilemma” when deciding whether to name a priest accused of raping Archbishop John Hepworth 40 years ago. No shit. On the one hand, as Xenophon explained under Parliamentary privilege last night, he was privy to certain information and frustrated at what he called the “Catholic Church in South Australia’s mishandling of sexual abuse claims”. And unlike most of us, he had the power, the protection and the platform to do something about it.

On the other hand he named a man who may be innocent, who indeed categorically denies the accusation, who is not even the subject of a police report at this stage.

Parliamentary privilege protects Mr Xenophon from legal action. But it doesn’t protect him from accusations he abused this privilege, one which should be used sparingly. What if he’s wrong?

Continue reading "Should Xenophon have named the priest?" »

“Good grief!” said the goose.
“Well, well!” said the pig.

“Who cares?” said the sheep.
“So what?” said the horse.
“What next?” said the cow.

This is the hardest column I’ve tackled in a long time. For days, I’ve taken different angles.

Continue reading "This is one of the hardest columns I’ve ever written" »

For a person whose innocence is stolen as a child and whose life has been irrevocably damaged, what constitutes justice?

Last month, Malcolm Fox was convicted of four counts of unlawful sexual intercourse. These crimes were perpetrated by him – a drama teacher - against a student who trusted and admired him. Today, a four-year sentence with a two year non-parole period was handed down.  Fox is to appeal this decision. 

The victim’s sentence is life. But for the perpetrator, it’s four years.

Continue reading "Offender gets four years while victim gets life" »

Just for a minute, imagine if David Hicks was charismatic, brilliant, eloquent, and truly, truly remorseful. He came across as precisely none of those things on ABC TV’s David Hicks special on Australian Story last night. But if he had, would Australia forgive him?

We’ll never know. Because what we saw was an unconvincing charade. And some irrelevant shots of Hicks on a motorbike, his wife in soft focus, and his mate making a cup of tea.

The former Guantanamo Bay detainee, by blaming his childhood and talking about his way forward, seems to be seeking some sort of forgiveness. ‘Closure’, even.

Continue reading "David Hicks is a sinner, sinned against, but no martyr" »

Kat Armstrong was a heroin addict, disowned by her only daughter and serving a prison sentence of ten years.

Vulnerable to relapse, with no support, no money, no home and no skills, her biggest challenge was returning to the real world.

Clean for eight years, reunited with her daughter and mentoring other women inmates all over NSW, Armstrong’s journey is exceptional. The fact that she’s still alive is amazing.

Continue reading "Do the crime, do the time. So where’s the long-term fix?" »

It’s not quite as convincing as Azaria’s jacket being found near a known ‘dingo lair’, but news reports that a Brisbane baggage handler was spotted stashing his stash in a bag at the airport will give Schapelle Corby’s supporters hope.

Channel Nine news tonight brought us ‘Sue’, who says back in 2004 she was dating a baggage handler. He told her a fellow worker was surprised by a supervisor while lugging around a massive bag of weed, and he quickly hid it inside a passenger’s bag.

Queenslander Corby is still in Indonesia’s Kerobokan Prison – depressed and pleading for clemency - after police discovered more than 4kg of marijuana inside her boogie board cover on her arrival in Bali in 2004.

Continue reading "Schapelle Corby: A drongo did it, maybe" »

In 2010 Bishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa declared that the time had come, particularly for Africans, to stop the “wave of hate” and to stand up “against wrong”.

He was referring to the wrong to “gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people” who are “part of the African family” and who “are living in fear.”

This news from Africa would be bad enough. But the same fear extends far beyond that continent.

Continue reading "Religion is helping the spread of AIDS" »

There are three golden rules in life: Nothing works, everything sucks and everyone you meet is either an idiot or plotting against you.

Being an optimistic and sunny sort of chap I have no problem accepting that this is all an unavoidable part of life and may even play a valuable role in shaping the human condition by teaching us humility through suffering. All I ask is that somebody pays for it.

It’s about time people who indifferently ruin other people’s lives every day were jailed alongside the criminals who do it on purpose.

Continue reading "My feet are wet, life sucks, and someone must PAY" »

Justice is “the principle that punishment should be proportionate to the offence”. Well, that’s a dictionary definition anyway.

For many innocent victims of dangerous driving in South Australia, justice would seem to be a myth. In March last year, John Swindle was walking his dog when killed by a 17-year-old speeding along Saint Bernards Road, Magill. Under the effects of alcohol and cannabis, the P-plater panicked and fled.

In February, the Adelaide Youth Court spared the boy a jail term, instead handing down a suspended sentence, a $1,000 fine and a 10-year licence ban.

Continue reading "At long last, justice may come to hoons who kill" »

When announcing Osama bin Laden’s death, US President Barack Obama declared it was about “liberty and justice for all”.  The Punch asked RMIT’s Adjunct Professor Peter Norden, a law, crime and justice expert, what that means.

What was your immediate response to the announcement of bin Laden’s death?
Certainly a sense of surprise that it happened without warning.  But then I reacted to the words used by the US President and Australian Prime Minister that “justice had been done”. My understanding of justice being done is when an accused person is taken into custody, tried and receives the verdict of the court. 

Continue reading "Punch Q & A: Just what is justice?" »

Getting ready for my appearance before the High Court in Canberra this week I did some eccentric research. I watched The Castle for the first time.

And whether your name is Daryl or Derryn it is pretty daunting walking up those steps to the towering glass façade of the High Court building in Canberra. With life imitating art, some of the media gang and camera crews who played extras in The Castle were there again in real life for my High Court battle.

That’s where the similarity ended. The battler fighting to retain his home on the grounds that a man’s home is his castle had a suburban solicitor and a QC played by Bud Tingwell against a couple of high-powered lawyers.

Continue reading "I’d rather be treated like a criminal than protect them" »

There’s something uniquely sickening about cases of animal abuse that outrages the community more than most crimes. To hear of a defenceless creature being brutalised by a cowardly attacker can get the blood of even the gentlest soul boiling.

This week we learnt of the shocking case of Snowy, a much loved family pet suffering horrific injuries at the hands of a torturer. The 18-month-old cat’s ears were mutilated and he had been set alight. Also this week charges against the man believed to have tortured Buckley, a puppy who had his ears and tail hacked off, were dropped amid fears that the case would not stand up in court.

In recent months there have been multiple cases of animals being tortured and killed in a trend that appears to be Australia wide. It seems no animal is immune from such callous attacks; pets, wildlife, even dolphins have been targeted by individuals who derive some sort of thrill from inflicting pain on an innocent creature. Despite the increasingly violent and sadistic nature of these attacks and the public’s growing disgust, offenders if caught can expect little more than a slap on the wrist.

Continue reading "Animal cruelty and the case for harsher punishment" »

Last weekend my heart sank as I watched the 60 minutes investigation into the horrific UK murder in 1993 of 2-year-old James Bulger.

The vicious murder of the toddler by Robert Thompson and Jon Venables is regarded as one of the most violent crimes of Britain’s modern history, particularly because the boys who committed it, were themselves only kids at 10 years of age. This story always leaves me deeply saddened and sickened to my stomach every time I hear about it – not just as a father, but as a human being. The fact that two young boys could be so calculated, violent and evil is hard to comprehend.

When you hear about terrible things like this, the last thing you expect is to discover is that they were carried out by children themselves. It’s terrifying. What’s equally hard to comprehend is the sentence they received – 8 years of detention and rehabilitation. Is that a suitable punishment?

Continue reading "Hard time may be the only deterrent for young offenders" »

The Rudd Government’s paid parental leave scheme appallingly places prisoners on a higher pedestal than stay at home mums - mums who slog their guts out all day trying to look after their kids who need 24-7 attention.

While paid parental leave is a good thing the Government’s scheme has more holes in it than Swiss cheese.

On page 20 of the explanatory memorandum of the Paid Parental Leave Bill 2010, it says that prisoners who perform work in prison would be eligible for the Government’s paid parental leave scheme.

Continue reading "Parental leave scheme treats mothers like criminals" »

The death of 24 year old Matthew McEvoy outside a night club in Melbourne in 2008 was as a result of acts of senseless violence by two young men, Andriyas Tello and Lauren Sako.

But as tragic as Matthew McEvoy’s death is, it is important to remember that the justice system in a democratic society is not there as a tool of revenge or bloodlust, but exists rather as a means of both protecting society and hoping that these young men do not offend in this serious way again.

David Penberthy on this site last Thursday took issue with Victorian Supreme Court Justice Paul Coghlan’s sentencing of Tello, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter, to a period of 5 years imprisonment (Sako has already been sent to jail for 6 years with a 3 year minimum term).

Continue reading "Five years in jail is a hell of a time, and a fitting sentence" »

In two courts yesterday, two very different sentences were handed down, for two stomach-turning crimes which epitomise public disgust at random, life-destroying violence.

Did the courts reflect that public disgust in their sentences? Did they do their job in reflecting community standards? In one case, probably. In the other, most definitely not.

Both cases involved indiscriminate and unprompted violence, the kind of blink-of-an-eye brain-snaps which terrify every parent, where an innocent young man was jumped, king-hit and left for dead.

Continue reading "Two courts, two sentences, two types of justice" »

Call it Humpty Dumpty jurisprudence. Australia has a new arbiter of taste in magistrate Robbie Williams, who has let a student off the hook after calling a police officer a prick.

Williams has enraged police with his ruling but at the same time shown himself in touch with the broader community’s appreciation of the finer points of swearing.

Police are outraged that his ruling appears to condone the verbal abuse of officers, but Williams’s decision explored the delicate way in which swear words change their intensity depending on context. There is also the less delicate reality that some police officers can be quite accurately described as pricks.

Continue reading "Pricking the bubble of polite conversation" »

I don’t know Luke Adams. Chances are I never will. But when I viewed the graphic, and much-publicised, video of the promising footballer (and his friend) getting bashed at a Prahran Hungry Jack’s last July, my heart skipped a beat.

It was incredibly disturbing footage. On Friday, two of Adams’ attackers were sentenced in the County Court.

Mark Bogtstra, 22, received intensive corrections order, requiring community work for nine months. The man who put Adams in a headlock and let him fall to the ground, bouncer Nathan Karazisis, 24, was sentenced to two years and four months in jail, and made to serve at least a year.

Continue reading "Soft sentences a king hit for justice" »

Amid the so-far unfounded speculation over whether the murder of 21-year-old student Nitin Garg in Melbourne was racially motivated, it’s worth remembering what we do know: a brutal killer is at large in Melbourne.

According to his housemates who spoke to a doctor at the hospital hours after their friend was killed last weekend, the young man was slashed from the abdomen up to the heart.

“Whoever did this knows how to kill,” Sandeep Sandeep, who lived with Garg, told The Age.

Continue reading "Crying wolf on racism" »

Shane Scott almost made it. He was just 700m from his home when the motorbike he was riding - after drinking six or seven cans of Jack Daniels and cola at the pub - left the road. He died.

Before getting on his bike he had argued with the publican and convinced him to let him make the 7km ride home. Shortly before giving him the keys, the publican had asked for his wife’s phone number so he could give her a call and get her to come pick Scott up. Scott’s response, according to the publican, was: “If I want you to ring my f**kin’ wife, I’d f**kin’ ask ya.”

But crucially, according to people who were there that night, Scott didn’t seem drunk. He told the publican he was fine to ride home. Now the High Court has decided the publican shouldn’t be held responsible for what happened in a ruling that backs what any bartender working under responsible service laws will tell you - it’s often impossible to tell when someone is on their ear.

Continue reading "Court calls last drinks on drunken excuses" »

Outside a Sydney court this morning, self-styled Sheikh Haron claimed his views were not being accurately represented.

Accordingly he and a female aide – who video-recorded the Sheikh’s long sermon to reporters on the steps of the court - handed out copies of the letter which is reproduced below.

He faced the Downing Centre Local Court today charged with sending harassing letters to the families of dead Australian soldiers.

Continue reading "Sheik’s plea: Stop killing civilians, call the Wiggles" »

I’m trying to think of an intro that won’t make me sound like a Dirty Harry-style vigilante. But I can’t so I’ll just admit it – if serial paedophile Dennis Ferguson moved into my suburb I’d be out on the street with the rest of the neighbours demanding he be kicked out immediately, and asking why he was ever let out of jail in the first place.

With one exception, which I’ll deal with further down, all the wise-headed counsel against mob hysteria is coming from people who haven’t just discovered that their new next-door neighbour kidnapped and raped three children.

Or that he’s been charged with other aberrant or disturbing conduct since then too. And is still quite obviously as mad as a meat axe, a genuinely scary-looking weirdo who would probably be safer and happier if he were still in custody, rather than popping up in an endless series of new locations across our continent, on every occasion confronted by parents who become frightened and angry when they realise who’s just moved in.

Continue reading "In defence of the angry mob" »

Sometimes there really is no simple answer. Convicted paedophile Dennis Ferguson has been ordered to move on yet again from a suburb filled with families who are understandably uncomfortable with his presence in their midst.

Ferguson is Australia’s least wanted man - free but not free - finished his sentence but still imprisoned in the public outrage that follows him where ever he goes.

And after years of shunting him around the country, supplying him false names and fresh starts until he’s once again outed and driven out of town, a permanent solution has not yet shown itself.

Continue reading "What to do with Australia’s least wanted man" »

James Hardie’s bosses should forget it if they imagine their company’s descent into a self-inflicted public relations purgatory will end any time soon.

It’s not going to happen while there are victims of asbestos-related diseases and their families capable of asking questions no-one in authority seems to anticipate or is prepared to answer without being pushed.

You see, so many of the people affected by the asbestos scourge are just so bloody courageous, eloquent and insightful in projecting the enormity of their suffering and loss—combined with an unrelenting quest for justice.

Continue reading "Brave woman who revealed James Hardies “fines”  sham" »

Her voice was clear, eloquent and well-mannered. “I’d like to have the AVO cancelled, please,” she told the clerk confidently.

They see a lot, staff of local court registries and maybe this was nothing new. Curious, I turned to see who was speaking, not entirely sure of what I expected to see. Noting an appearance to match the voice - blonde, well-groomed and aged in her early-to-mid 20s - the young woman went on.

“You see, I was really drunk the other night, and I said a lot of things I didn’t mean.”

Continue reading "When an AVO is just a tactic in a lovers’ quarrel" »

Ask an Australian if crime is getting worse, and most will say - wrongly - that it is. Crime in Victoria, state authorities reported proudly yesterday, is down 25 per cent over eight years.

Yet they also announced another 120 police would be put on Melbourne’s streets with new powers to search for weapons, because - at least in Victoria’s experience - crime is decreasing, but the violence isn’t.

The public perception that crime is on the rise is understandable when you hear the shock and disbelief ringing through the words of Brenda Lin, in messages to her murdered family at their memorial service in Sydney.

Continue reading "No wonder we’re fearful amid crimes like the Lin killings" »

The humiliation of Marcus Einfeld is now complete. The NSW Court of Appeal struck him off this week, concurring with the argument of the NSW Bar Association that he is not a “fit and proper person” to practice as a lawyer ever again.

Representing the Bar Association, Barrister Christine Adamson SC said Einfeld’s speeding case showed he considered himself to be “above the law” and displayed “extraordinary hubris” in thinking he could use his “skill and ingenuity” as a respected lawyer of some 40 years to trick a court into cancelling a speeding fine.

A $77 speeding fine.The public reveled in it, as Einfeld for many years had been one of the greatest offenders of the deep-seated Australian belief that being massively up yourself is close on the worst crime a person can commit.

Continue reading "How the Marcus Einfeld story was almost not written" »

The sole remaining daily reminder in Australia of the existence of Schapelle Corby is the plastic luggage-wrapping service at our international airports.

More than four years after her conviction on drug smuggling charges - when Corby was the only story in Australia, the only topic of discussion at the pub, at barbecues, in the office tea room - the one thing that reminds us that she even exists is the roll of industrial cling-film in our departure lounges, so you can make sure your baggage leaves our shores and arrives overseas without 4.2kg of cannabis in it.

As she prepares to celebrate her 32nd birthday tomorrow - her fifth inside Bali’s Kerobokan jail - prison authorites let Schapelle have her hair cut and coloured by a professional hairdresser, saying they hoped it would cheer her up as she continues to fight with severe depression.

Her illness may be fuelled by the knowledge that almost all of her countrymen have pretty much forgotten about her - and that unlike in 2005, when most Australians disputed her guilt, public opinion appears to have swung the other way, not just against her but members of her family.

Continue reading "How Australia forgot about Schapelle Corby" »

One of the first of the sadly limited number of court cases arising from the death of Dianne Brimble on a Pacific Sky cruise came to an end this week.

Its conclusion achieved nothing, other than to reinforce the public belief in the cavernous divide between community standards and the sentencing practices of the judiciary.

While there are other cases on the horizon which cannot legally be the subject of discussion here, the unsatisfactory conclusion of this week’s case involving one of the “Brimble Eight”, the execrable Leo Silvestri, has raised the worst case scenario surrounding the shocking death of this young woman.

Namely that the plodding nature of justice and the pernickety application of the law – all these things may conspire to ensure that no-one faces any genuine punishment over that fact that a woman was left for dead in a drugged stupor on the cold linoleum floor of a cheap cruise ship.

Continue reading "The evil men do and the courts that ignore it" »