Judge wrong to award $1.5m to Bill Spedding, After police wrongfully prosecuted the washer repairman in September 2014 while investigating the whereabouts of the three-year-old, Mr. Spedding was awarded $1.5 million in December of same year by a court in NSW, which had previously been ordered to pay the money.
The Director of Public Prosecutions and NSW Police kept the case against Mr. Spedding, in which fabricated allegations of previous sexual assault against two girls were brought, for an improper reason, as stated by NSW Supreme Court Justice Ian Harrison.
On Tuesday, NSW’s attorney Stephen Free SC sought to have this ruling overturned, claiming that Justice Harrison incorrectly applied the law and reached incorrect conclusions in favor of Mr. Spedding.
While the judge named the three police officers who were looking into Mr. Spedding and who initially accused him of sexual abuse, Mr. Free argued that no one was named in the Office of the DPP about the purportedly malicious prosecution.
Because it doesn’t focus on the specific act or specific people at certain times, that kind of approach is likely to result in error, he told the NSW Court of Appeal.
The court was informed that without naming specific members of the ODPP, it was impossible to judge their motivations and decide whether they were bringing the case against Mr. Spedding with malice.
Additionally, there was no proof that the director or those in his employ, including Inspector Gary Jubelin, who publicly stated that the purpose of the legal proceedings was to implicate Mr. Spedding in William’s abduction, had been working together with police officials.
I had to compare the costs of charging Bill with the costs of doing nothing as the person in charge of the inquiry and discovered the scales did not balance. He stated in his book, I Catch Killers, “The cost of doing nothing was worse.
According to Mr. Free, there was no proof that Mr. Jubelin made the crucial choice to charge Mr. Spedding.
Nothing indicated that Mr. Jubelin’s ulterior purpose was shared by the other police officers working on the matter or the personnel at the ODPP, the barrister continued.
Justice Harrison also made a mistake when she concluded that the DPP had not acted reasonably in accusing Mr. Spedding of sexual assault in April 2015 or in pursuing the case.
Despite a not guilty verdict being eventually rendered in March 2018, prosecutors were not obligated to review additional information that was made available to NSW Police that demonstrated the allegations were false and were permitted to carry the case to trial.
The prosecutor should not take over a jury’s duties, according to Mr. Free.
The hearing keeps going.
Published by Reporters News Wire
