The NSW government has lost an appeal against the awarding of $1.5 million to a man wrongly targeted by detectives investigating the disappearance of William Tyrrell.
Key points:
- William Spedding was first identified as a person of interest in 2015
- Last year a judge found prosecutors acted with malice in pursuing charges against him
- The court of appeal's judgement found NSW police used its power for improper purposes
On Wednesday the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal found the maintaining of charges against William "Bill" Spedding was the "worst case" of malicious prosecution proved in NSW.
Mr Spedding successfully sued the state for torts including malicious prosecution, wrongful imprisonment, abuse of process and misfeasance in public office.
The case hinged on the failed prosecution of him over historic sexual assault charges unrelated to the disappearance of William, but laid while he was being investigated by Strike Force Rosann.
He claimed the charges were used by police, including former senior detective Gary Jubelin, as a tactic to "crack" him, and were maintained despite being doomed to fail.
Last year, Justice Ian Harrison found prosecutors acted with malice in pursuing charges that had already been "exhaustively explored" and dismissed during a civil court case in the 1980s.
An appeal was heard before the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal in June, when the state argued Justice Harrison had erred in finding that officers had abused proper process and whether the damages awarded were excessive.
Today a panel of the court including Chief Justice Andrew Bell dismissed the appeal and awarded costs to Mr Spedding.
"The high-handed, self-serving, grand-standing undermining of the criminal justice system by the relevant police officers in arresting, charging, opposing bail and maintaining the prosecution against Mr Spedding has no relevant comparator in the reported cases in New South Wales," the court ruled.
"One can only hope that its standing as the worst case is never repeated and is never superseded by conduct that is even worse."
Outside court, Mr Spedding thanked his wife and legal team for standing by him over the course of his legal battles for nine years.
"[I'm] very happy. Very good outcome, it's been a very long time between what happened to me and today," he said.
"The New South Wales Police destroyed my livelihood and my family.
"But today, for me, justice is done and I'm very relieved."
Mr Spedding, now in his 70s, was publicly identified as a person of interest in the Tyrrell case in 2015 before later being ruled out.
Investigations into the disappearance of three-year-old William from Kendall on the NSW Mid-North Coast in 2014 were led by Strike Force Rosann under Mr Jubelin.
The tradesman had visited the home of William's foster grandmother to fix a washing machine on September 9, 2014 — three days before the young boy vanished.
In April 2015, Mr Spedding was charged with sexually assaulting two children in 1987 after the strike force renewed investigations into historical allegations against him.
His arrest was conducted in view of the media, which had been tipped off about the opportunity to film the police operation.
The court of appeal's judgement said that was one example of the police using its power for improper purposes.
"This act was apt to turn the investigation into the disappearance of a child into a gladiatorial circus which apparently elevated Jubelin to heroic status with corresponding demonisation of Mr Spedding," it read.
"It set the tone for what was to follow in the ensuing period of almost three years.
"Further, the maintenance of tenuous charges of child sexual abuse may be apt to undermine credible charges."
The allegations had been dismissed during a civil legal case in the 1980s as lacking credibility, and the charges were ultimately thrown out by a judge in 2018.
His lawyer, Peter O'Brien, said he agreed with the court's ruling that this case was "the worst malicious prosecution Australia has seen".
"To be labelled a paedophile, to be given the public opprobrium that he had to face, is absolutely overwhelming," he said.
Mr O'Brien described the appeal as an "act of lunacy" and that he would argue that indemnity costs be awarded to his client.
Those costs could range into the "millions", he said, on top of the $1.5 million plus interest already awarded to Mr Spedding.
"It's a very troubling case in every respect. Particularly with how much it cost to defend to the state, the taxpayers of New South Wales," Mr O'Brien said.
He said the state had a period to decide whether it would appeal Wednesday's ruling.
NSW Police said in a statement that it was reviewing the judgement and was not in a position to comment further.
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiYmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIzLTA4LTA5L2JpbGwtc3BlZGRpbmctd2lpbGlhbS10eXJyZWxsLWFwcGVhbC1vdmVyLWRhbWFnZXMvMTAyNzA2NTU20gEoaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAuYWJjLm5ldC5hdS9hcnRpY2xlLzEwMjcwNjU1Ng?oc=5
2023-08-09 01:04:43Z
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