Crooked Australian prosecutor gets golden handshake

Andrew Mallard is “utterly disgusted” with revelations that senior prosecutor Ken Bates will escape public sector disciplinary action over his involvement in his wrongful conviction and will walk away from his job with a payout of more than $250,000. “I am yet again incensed and utterly disgusted at the seeming impunity awarded to those involved in an inexcusable miscarriage of justice,” Mr Mallard said yesterday.

His outrage over the latest development in the long-running saga came as Public Sector Commissioner Mal Wauchope revealed he would review the payment made to Mr Bates to end his contract 19 months early. Mr Wauchope said while Director of Public Prosecutions Robert Cock held an independent statutory office, the top prosecutor agreed to a review because of public interest in the issue.

The Opposition stepped up its demand yesterday for Attorney-General Christian Porter to investigate the deal between Mr Bates and Mr Cock, who ends his term as DPP on Friday. Shadow attorney-general John Quigley said the Opposition was also investigating options to uncover details of the agreement, including the possibility of referring the issue to the Auditor-General as soon as today.

The agreement to terminate Mr Bates’ contract will end public sector disciplinary proceedings started after a Corruption and Crime Commission inquiry into Mr Mallard’s wrongful conviction for the murder of Mosman Park jeweller Pamela Lawrence delivered two opinions of misconduct against the senior lawyer.

The process was put on hold pending the outcome of a complaint to the Legal Practitioners Complaints Committee, that remains unresolved.

Disciplinary proceedings against former assistant police commissioners Mal Shervill and David Caporn, who also faced opinions of misconduct over their roles in Mr Mallard’s wrongful conviction, have also been dropped after the men quit their jobs.

Mr Quigley said the reasons for the early termination of Mr Bates’ contract, that had avoided the possibility of his employment being terminated without any payout, had to be probed. “If the purpose of this deal was to enable Mr Bates to avoid disciplinary processes as recommended by the CCC, then at the heart of it, this back room deal may be unlawful,” he said.

Mr Porter said there was no basis for a probe into Mr Cock’s decision and Mr Quigley ignored the fundamental point that the office of the DPP was set up to operate independently of the Government.

A spokeswoman for Mr Cock said the sanctions still faced by Mr Bates since the complaint to the Legal Practitioners Complaints Committee were far more serious than those under the Public Sector Management Act.

Original report here



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