Females Sentenced to be Gang Raped
While there are certainly problems with the Australian criminal justice system, we are lucky enough to live in a society where punishments are not designed to inflict cruelty, degradation and humiliation. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for some countries,...
Overturning a Jury Verdict: The Case of M v The Queen
For centuries, juries have played an important role in criminal trials, scrutinising all the evidence that is presented by both sides before attempting to reach a unanimous verdict. But is a jury’s verdict always the end of the matter -...
Honest and Reasonable Mistake About Age in Child Sex Cases
Imagine this: You’re 17 or 18 years old and go out one night to a party with some friends, where you meet a person who says they are 16. You start chatting to them, one thing leads to another and...
Innocent Man Spends 22 Years in Prison Based on False Evidence
Kirk Odom was just 18-years-old when police accused him of a violent sexual assault and robbery of a woman in her own home. Police approached Odom in the street and said he was the man in a police sketch. That...
Restorative Justice – Does It Really Work?
If you had been physically or sexually assaulted, would you ever consider facing the person who assaulted you to tell them how the incident had impacted upon your life? Such a situation might seem confronting, but for some it offers...
Teacher’s Wrongful Conviction Finally Overturned
In the carefree days of 1979, things were a bit different from the way they are now. Teachers could take students on excursions and camps without other adults being present to keep an eye on things. They could be in...
The Julian Assange Saga: Secrets, Suspicions and Supreme Court Decisions
Australian citizen Julian Assange rocketed into the national consciousness in 2010. Assange is the co-founder of WikiLeaks, a website dedicated to publishing secret information and leaks from anonymous sources. That year, WikiLeaks published thousands of secret US military and diplomatic...
Which State is the Toughest on Crime?
A new Report by the Judicial Commission of NSW shows that sentences imposed in NSW are generally harsher than sentences for similar crimes in Victoria and Queensland. The Report looked at the period 2006 to 2013 and focussed on five...
Sexual Relationships With Prison Inmates
Back in 2000, three girls were sexually assaulted by a notorious gang led by the Skaf brothers. It may sound incredible, but several years later a prison psychologist, 33 year old Joanne Natalie Senior, started a love affair with one...
Australia’s Worst Serial Killers: Who is the Most Evil?
Former New South Wales Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham told the media in October 2024 that the ‘worst’ serial killer in Australia’s history could be the person responsible for several of the 67 missing or murdered women in New South Wales...
