Sign Up
..... Australian Property Network. It's All About Property!
Categories

Posted: Mon, 27 May 2019 05:56:02 GMT

For the friends of Andrew Mallard, the news that he had died from a hit-and-run last month — after finally being exonerated of the murder of a Perth jewellery store owner — was a bitter blow.

Mr Mallard, 56, spent 12 years in jail after being wrongfully convicted of murder in 1994.

He was released in 2006 and was finally getting his life back on track. In a cruel twist of fate, the night before the accident Mr Mallard had contacted his family to let them know that he was getting married.

“I can’t tell how … the feeling of grief that washed over me,” Western Australia Attorney-General John Quigley told Australian Story about hearing of Mr Mallard’s death.

Mr Quigley, who was a barrister and solicitor before becoming a politician, played a key role in helping to free Mr Mallard after journalist Colleen Egan asked him to review the case.

“I held that man in my arms in prison and promised I’d never leave him,” Mr Quigley said of his first meeting with Mr Mallard. “I felt just a little bit of me die when I heard this news.”

Mr Quigley described Mr Mallard as a “gentle man, an honest person”.

“I just think it’s so unfair, so sad, what happened. I’d like to think that Andrew’s soul is resting in peace.”

Mr Mallard was convicted in 1995 for the 1994 murder of Perth mother-of-two Pamela Lawrence but after a long battle and two failed appeals, the verdict was quashed by the High Court in 2005.

RELATED: Andrew Mallard killed in US hit-and-run

Despite the judgement, Mr Mallard still lived under the shadow of the conviction, especially as the Director of Public Prosecutions still considered him a prime suspect.

It wasn’t until a review of the case, which identified British backpacker Simon Rochford as the likely killer, that authorities said Mr Mallard was no longer a person of interest.

New technology was able to match a palmprint found at the scene of the crime with Rochford, who was in jail at the time for killing his girlfriend Brigitta Dickens seven weeks after the murder of Ms Lawrence. A makeshift murder weapon that he had used to kill Ms Dickens also seemed to be the same tool used to kill Ms Lawrence.

But days after Rochford was interviewed by police in an Albany jail in 2006, he committed suicide.

Mr Mallard was eventually awarded a $3.25 million ex gratia payment for his time behind bars after lengthy negations with the state government.

However, Mr Mallard told Australian Story in 2010 that there was still a stigma associated with having been convicted.

“I still get abuse from certain members of the public. I still get scoffed at,” he said.

“People don’t know the full story They think I’m some sort of psycho, some sort of mentally ill patient. I had done nothing wrong. I was innocent and protested my innocence from the word ‘go’.”

Friend Tonina Khamis said Mr Mallard would often tell her that he had never resolved his anger about his wrongful conviction.

“He was always angry about the police and the prosecutors that brought the injustice,” she said.

A Corruption and Crime Commission inquiry later found that police had withheld vital information from Mr Mallard’s defence team. Two assistant police commissioners, Mal Shervill and David Caporn, were forced to step down from their jobs. DPP senior lawyer Ken Bates also quit.

However, all three men were able to leave with all their entitlements.

“While they have gone through the suffering of their reputations and I recognise that that is punishment for them, they haven’t been made to face the consequences in the way that Andrew certainly would like to see,” journalist Colleen Egan told Australian Story.

Mr Mallard did years of psychotherapy to deal with post traumatic stress and anxiety after he was released from prison. He eventually left Australia to live in the UK as he was so recognisable in Perth.

Tragically, Mr Mallard appeared to have finally found some happiness before he was killed.

“Andrew was always looking for that one, for that soulmate … and wanting to reclaim those years that he lost. I mean he lost most of his 30s and part of his 40s,” Ms Egan said.

“Andrew’s family always loved him. He had called then the night before and said he was getting married that he’d met a girl and that he was totally in love. They are obviously very devastated,” she said.

View More
  • 0 Comment(s)
Captcha Challenge
Reload Image
Type in the verification code above