Australian state offers US$1.3mil to compensate woman wrongly jailed for 20 years
Kathleen Folbigg, 58, was convicted in 2003 of murdering three of her children, and of manslaughter in the death of the fourth.
She was later pardoned, freed and had her convictions quashed in 2023, after an independent inquiry found new scientific evidence that the children could have died from natural causes or a genetic mutation.
On Thursday, the state's Attorney General Michael Daley said the government had made an ex-gratia payment to Folbigg after "extensive consideration" of her compensation claim in July 2024.
Such a payment is a voluntary gift that does not arise from a legal obligation.
Folbigg's lawyer Rhanee Rego called the payment "profoundly unfair and unjust" as it did not reflect the extent of pain and suffering endured by her client.
"The sum offered is a moral affront - woefully inadequate and ethically indefensible," Rego said. "The system has failed Kathleen Folbigg once again."
She called for an inquiry into how the figure was decided.
Folbigg lost not only her children, but 20 of the best years of her life, and continued to feel lasting effects from the trauma, Rego said.
The children, aged between 19 days and 18 months, died over a 10-year period from 1989 to 1999.
Folbigg was convicted in 2003 based on the prosecution's case that she had smothered each of them, despite a lack of physical supporting evidence. Her sentence of 40 years was later reduced to 30, with a 25-year period of non-parole on appeal.
At the time, tabloids had labelled her "the most hated woman in Australia", and a "monstrous mother", among other epithets.
A judicial inquiry in 2019 found the evidence reinforced Folbigg's guilt. But a second inquiry led by former chief justice Thomas Bathurst revisited her convictions in 2022 and concluded there was reasonable doubt about her guilt. - Reuters
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Exclusive-FBI looks to add drug cartel suspects to terror watch list, government files show
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The FBI has asked local police to submit the names of people tied to drug cartels and gangs to the U.S. government's terrorist watch list created after 9/11, which could land more Americans on the list, according to law enforcement documents seen by Reuters. The bureau told law enforcement agencies in a May 9 email to share the names of people they believe are linked to eight criminal groups President Donald Trump has labeled foreign terrorist organizations. It also asked agencies to share information about family members and associates of the groups' members. The existence of the email, which was obtained by the national security-focused transparency nonprofit Property of the People through a public records request and shared with Reuters, has not been previously reported. The email was sent to law enforcement agencies and groups including the National Sheriff's Association, which confirmed receiving it from the FBI. The FBI declined to answer detailed questions about the email, instead referring to an earlier statement that said "watchlisting is an effective tripwire keeping those who would engage in violent criminal acts, illicit drug trade, and human smuggling/trafficking out of the country." The watch list contained some 1.1 million names, including about 6,000 U.S. citizens and permanent legal residents, as of August 2024, according to a January report from the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, which is the most recent federal data available. The change means that local police officers are likely to see more terrorism alerts when they conduct traffic stops or run background checks using the National Crime Information Center database, the FBI said in the email. The Trump administration in February declared gangs including MS-13, Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa drug cartel foreign terrorist organizations, saying they pose a risk to national security and economic interests. The document, sent by a former FBI assistant director, said that "agencies that possess information about members of these organizations, including their family members and associates, are required to share" it with the National Counterterrorism FBI-led Threat Screening Center would then lead an effort to determine which names should be added. The bureau also told local police that it had recently added 300,000 immigration records to the National Crime Information Center database, including people who are facing administrative warrants for removal from the United States. A state law enforcement office that helps facilitate intelligence sharing between federal, state and local officials issued a bulletin in late July providing instructions about how to submit names for potential inclusion on the watch list, according to a copy seen by Reuters. GESTURES, TATTOOS Civil liberties advocates say the U.S. government sometimes relies on questionable evidence to decide who to include. "The U.S. watch-listing system is already a notoriously error-prone, bloated, due process nightmare and this instruction raises major red flags," said Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU's National Security Project. The White House and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said the government will use every legal avenue available "to prevent terrorists from killing Americans." Designating cartel and gang members as terrorists has the potential to drastically expand the number of people on the watch list. "In the cartel context, when you are talking about people inside the U.S., the watch list's reach becomes even broader because of the way drug trafficking networks play out," said Spencer Reynolds, a former Department of Homeland Security attorney who is now with the Brennan Center for Justice. He said it remains unclear whether low-level gang affiliates who sell or transport drugs would be labeled terrorists, even if they have no idea their work is connected to one of the designated cartels. Civil rights groups have voiced concerns about the secretive nature of the list, which can subject people to surveillance on airplanes, travel restrictions and secondary screenings at airports and other ports of entry into the United States. They have also complained that the government has sometimes flagged people as members of gangs based on evidence such as their tattoos and clothing. A federal judge ruled in 2019 that the list infringed on the constitutional rights to due process of certain U.S. citizens. "If your name pops up in a law enforcement hit, that has all kinds of cascading consequences," said Sirine Shebaya, executive director for the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild. Authorities must spell out reasonable suspicion that a person is associated with one of the designated terrorist groups before being added to the watch list, according to public government standards. Their friends and associates would not be added automatically unless the government also suspects them of involvement, though there are exceptions to that standard, a former official familiar with the process said. The Privacy and Civil Liberties Board released a report in January with recommendations on how to improve the list's accuracy and reliability. Several days later, the Trump administration fired three of its four board members. "As Trump dismantles the rule of law and targets even mild dissent as security threats, ballooning terrorist watch lists are another glaring indicator of our descent toward authoritarian rule," Property of the People's Executive Director Ryan Shapiro said. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch, Brad Heath and Jana Winter; Editing by Scott Malone and Mark Porter)
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Hong Kong police on the hunt for man who used fake bills to buy luxury watches
Hong Kong police are searching for a man suspected of using counterfeit banknotes to buy a pair of luxury watches from two others worth HK$4.5 million (US$573,242). The watch owners, aged 30 and 32, who wanted to sell their high-end Patek Philippe and Richard Mille timepieces, agreed to meet the suspect at a watch repair shop located in Peninsula Centre on Mody Road in Tsim Sha Tsui. The two from mainland China met the suspect at the shop at around 6pm on Monday. He inspected the watches and handed them a large bag of cash, but claimed the shop's bill counter was faulty. The suspect suggested putting the watches in the store's safe while he went out to get another machine. He then disappeared into a back room and never returned. After waiting for half an hour, the two men checked the banknotes. They found that although the top layer appeared authentic, the entire inner stack consisted of fake bills. Officers discovered that the store's safe had a concealed rear door. The door led to a back room, which was connected to a neighbouring shop. Police are searching for the suspect, in his thirties, who they believed escaped with the watches through the back room. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
The Star
4 hours ago
- The Star
Aceh traders face imprisonment, fine over tiger skins
BANDA ACEH: The Central Aceh Prosecutor's Office has sought imprisonment not exceeding six years and a Rp100 million (around US$6,132) fine for five traders involved in selling endangered Sumatran tiger skins and parts in Aceh Province, reported Antara news agency. Prosecutors made this sentencing demand during a recent session at the Takengon District Court, Hasrul, head of the Intelligence Unit at the Central Aceh Prosecutor's Office, stated. The prosecutors said sufficient evidence showed Maskur, Santoso, Jaharuddin, Ruhman, and Saprizal were involved in the transaction of the Sumatran tiger skins and body parts, he told Antara on Wednesday. The prosecutors, therefore, called on the judges to sentence Maskur to six years' imprisonment and a fine of Rp100 million or an additional three months in jail, and to sentence the four other defendants to four years in prison. Jaharuddin, Ruhman, and Saprizal were also asked to pay a fine of Rp100 million or face another four months of imprisonment, while Santoso should pay the same fine or serve another three months in jail. The prosecutors claimed the defendants violated Articles 40A (1) and 21 (2) of Law No.32 of 2024 on the Conservation of Biological Natural Resources and Their Ecosystems, and Article 55 (1) of the Criminal Code. The Takengon District Court's panel of judges adjourned the trial until Monday, Aug 11, to hear the defendants' defence notes, he stated. According to Hasrul, Jaharuddin, Ruhman, and Saprizal found a dead Sumatran tiger in a trap they set to catch deer in a forest area of Gewat Village, Linge Sub-district, Central Aceh, on March 11, 2025. Due to financial needs ahead of the Muslims' Eid al-Fitr celebration marking the end of this year's holy month of Ramadan, they decided to sell the tiger skins and parts to Maskur. "Maskur gave them one million rupiah, but local cops arrested Maskur along with his companion, Santoso, during the transaction of the tiger skins and body parts in the district on March 14, 2025," he added. Sumatran tigers, the smallest tiger subspecies, are critically endangered and found only on Sumatra, Indonesia's second-largest island. Tigers are on the brink of extinction owing to deforestation, poaching, and conflicts between wild animals and local people caused by shrinking habitats. - Bernama- Antara
