Latest news with #wrongful imprisonment
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Woman dem jail wrongfully for 20 years get $1.3m compensation
Kathleen Folbigg, wey dem bin brand as "Australia worst mother" get offer of A$2m (£975,580, $1.3m) in compensation for 20 years of wrongful imprisonment, afta dem consider am di victim of one of di greatest miscarriages of justice. For 2003, court bin convict Ms Folbigg ova di deaths of her four babies, but dem free am for 2023 afta judicial review of her case reveal say her babies die of genetic condition. Legal experts don estimate say di 58-year-old fit expect one of di highest compensation payouts for Australian history, likely upwards of $10m. However, on Thursday, Ms Folbigg lawyer tok say govment only offer $2m, e describe am as "profoundly unfair and unjust". "Di sum wey dem offer na moral affront – woefully inadequate and ethically indefensible," Rhanee Rego tok for one statement. "Di system don fail Kathleen Folbigg once again." Inside one statement, New South Wales Attorney General Michael Daley tok say di decision na based on "thorough and extensive" consideration of Ms Folbigg application for compensation. "At Ms Folbigg request, di Attorney General and govment agree not to publicly discuss di details of di decision." Ms Folbigg four children - Caleb, Patrick, Sarah, and Laura - die suddenly between 1989 and 1999, between di age 19 days and 18 months. For 2003, dem sentence her to 40 years in jail for di murders of Sarah, Patrick and Laura, and di manslaughter of Caleb, later dem downgrade am to 30 years on appeal. Ms Folbigg bin always maintain her innocence, and for 2023 one landmark inquiry into her case find out say her babies fit don die from natural causes becos of incredibly rare gene mutations. Ms Rego tok say di payment wey dem offer to Ms Folbigg no fairly take into account di suffering she don endure. "Wen dem release Lindy Chamberlain for 1994, she receive $1.7 million for three years in prison," she tok, referencing anoda mother wey dem falsely convict of murder afta one animal carry her daughter from campsite. "Kathleen Folbigg spend two decades in prison, for her wrongful imprisonment, dem offer her $2 million." After her release, forensic criminologist Xanthe Mallett tell Australian Broadcasting Corporation say she "no go dey surprised" if compensation dem go award go be upwards of A$10m. Meanwhile, Professor Gary Edmond, from di University of NSW, tell Guardian Australia say Ms Folbigg compensation payout " fit be" di largest in di country history. Oda local media report say she fit receive damages of up to A$20m.
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
NSW attorney-general approves $2 million compensation payment to Kathleen Folbigg after release from prison
By Nakita Jager, ABC Kathleen Folbigg (right) with her lawyer Rhanee Rego in 2023, when her convictions were quashed. Photo: ABC News / Keana Naughton Kathleen Folbigg's solicitor says a $2 million payout from the NSW government is "profoundly unfair and unjust" after spending 20 years in prison. Attorney-General Michael Daley granted a compensation payment to Folbigg, who was exonerated of killing her four children after spending two decades in jail for their deaths. Folbigg was convicted in 2003 of killing her four children between 1989 and 1999. Following a seven-week trial, a jury found Folbigg guilty of the murders of Patrick, Sarah and Laura, and the manslaughter of Caleb. In 2023 Folbigg's convictions were quashed and in 2024 she applied for a compensation payment. The state government said it had agreed to a request from Folbigg to not publicly discuss the details of the compensation decision. "The decision follows thorough and extensive consideration of the materials and issues raised in Ms Folbigg's application and provided by her legal representatives," Daley said. Folbigg's solicitor Rhanee Rego said in a statement her client continues to feel the lasting effects of this ongoing trauma. "Kathleen Folbigg spent two decades in prison, yet for her wrongful imprisonment she has been offered $2 million," the statement read. "When Lindy Chamberlain was exonerated in 1994, she received $1.7 million for three years in prison." Rego said the payment "does not reflect the extent of the pain and suffering Kathleen has endured". "This should be about the system recognising the significance of what it did to her. "An inquiry is needed to understand how the government decided on this figure." Greens MLC Sue Higginson says Folbigg's payment is not enough. Photo: ABC News / Victoria Pengilley NSW Greens MLC Sue Higginson dubbed the compensation amount an insult from Premier Chris Minns, describing the offer as "go away" money. "I'm astounded at the lack of reason, financial accounting, reflection and empathy this offer represents," she said. "Two million dollars barely covers what Kathleen could have earned on a full-time salary over 20 years. "Kathleen has not only lost 20 years of wages, she has lost her four children, her home and her employability. "She has racked up legal costs fighting her wrongful conviction, she has lost her superannuation, and she has been the victim of one of the worst injustices in this state's history - wrongful imprisonment." Rego said the system had failed her client once again. "Kathleen Folbigg's fight should be over. After being failed at her conviction and abused in prison, she is now being treated with contempt by the very system that should be making amends," she said. "This is profoundly unfair and unjust." - ABC
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Kathleen Folbigg: Payout for woman wrongfully imprisoned for 20 years 'woefully inadequate'
For 20 years of wrongful imprisonment over the deaths of her four babies, Kathleen Folbigg has been offered A$2m (£975,580, $1.3m) in branded "Australia's worst mother" but now considered the victim of one of its greatest miscarriages of justice, Ms Folbigg was freed in 2023 after a judicial review of her case found there was reasonable doubt she had killed her children. Legal experts had estimated that the 58-year-old could expect one of the highest compensation payouts in Australian history - likely upwards of $ on Thursday Ms Folbigg's lawyer said she had been offered $2m by the New South Wales government, a figure they called "profoundly unfair and unjust". "The sum offered is a moral affront – woefully inadequate and ethically indefensible," her lawyer Rhanee Rego said in a statement."The system has failed Kathleen Folbigg once again."She said the payment did not fairly take into account the suffering Ms Folbigg had endured."When Lindy Chamberlain was exonerated in 1994, she received $1.7 million for three years in prison. Kathleen Folbigg spent two decades in prison, yet for her wrongful imprisonment she has been offered $2 million."In a statement, NSW Attorney General Michael Daley said the decision was based on "thorough and extensive" consideration of Ms Folbigg's application for compensation."At Ms Folbigg's request, the Attorney General and Government have agreed to not publicly discuss the details of the decision."After her release, forensic criminologist Xanthe Mallett told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation she "wouldn't be surprised" if compensation awarded was upwards of A$ local media reported that she could receive damages of up to A$20m.
Times
3 days ago
- Times
Mistrial, murder and poison — best legal books for summer 2025
From a memoir by Amanda Knox on rebuilding her life after her wrongful imprisonment for the murder of Meredith Kercher in 2007, and a gripping mixture of modern and historical crime fiction from Sally Smith and Roger Ede, to a series of discursive essays on sport and philosophy and a trilogy of children's books set in Cornwall, written by a former lawyer and reviewed by a young podcaster — our experts have picked a selection of the best legal books to read over the summer. by Amanda Knox The story seems so familiar — we all feel we know about 'Foxy Knoxy' and her role in the sexually-charged murder of the British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy, in 2007. Yet the many tortuous twists and turns in the complex legal drama that followed Amanda Knox's original murder conviction show just how quickly a tabloid story can travel round the world before the truth has got its boots on. It was the prosecution's case that Knox — now 38 and back in America — with her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito and a third man, Rudy Guede, killed Kercher during a violent sexual attack. Prosecutors tried to link the three defendants by claiming that Guede, Knox and Sollecito had burst into Kercher's room, stripped her and held her on her hands and knees while Guede sexually assaulted her, before Knox allegedly delivered the fatal blow by cutting Kercher's neck with a knife. One of those prosecutors, Giuliano Mignini, told the court: 'Under the influence of drugs and probably also alcohol, Amanda decided to involve Meredith in a violent sex game … it was her opportunity to take revenge on that British girl who was too serious and moderate for her tastes, whose clique of English friends always excluded her … for Amanda, the time had come to take revenge on that 'simpering goody two shoes' — so she must have thought.' The sensational coverage of the case guaranteed worldwide attention as well as unprecedented prejudice. All three defendants were convicted, Knox was sentenced to 26 years in jail. • Amanda Knox: 'I was patient zero of social media cancellation' It was only in 2011 that Mignini's invented narrative unravelled and Knox was acquitted of any involvement in the killing, which was solely attributed to Guede, who had broken into the flat Kercher shared with Knox where he carried out his murderous attack. In this book, Knox tells her own story of the strain that such a wrongful verdict placed on her life. She talks candidly about the four years she spent in prison and the life she tried to forge for herself after she was acquitted, before sensationally being reconvicted in 2014 and then finally acquitted the next year. She confronts the harm done to her family and friends who stood by her; pressure from the media and the many ways she tried to free herself from the label 'Foxy Knoxy psycho killer'. Perhaps the most extraordinary part of her journey is her meeting with the man who had constructed the very first false narrative that tore her life apart. Despite several rebuffs, Knox flew to Perugia in 2022 to confront Mignini about his role in the miscarriage. Although the Italian lawyer refused to admit any wrongdoing, the meeting did bring a kind of closure for Knox. Robert Verkaik is a journalist and the author of Posh Boys: How English Public Schools Ruin Britain, published by Oneworld Headline £22 pp304. To order a copy go to Free UK standard P&P on orders over £25. Special discount available for Times+ members by W Robert Griffiths Sport and philosophy are counterintuitive bedfellows. But Robert Griffiths KC sees them as a marriage made in heaven. 'Sport is a symbolic and existential metaphor for what is and what is to come afterwards, the beyond,' he writes. The idea that philosophy is somehow the counterpart of sport might be surprising to many, he adds, but it was nothing new to Plato. Griffiths is passionate about sport — much of his Bar career has been spent at the interface of sport and the law. He represented the Australian umpire Darrell Hair in his claim against the International Cricket Council in the 2006 ball-tampering affair at the Oval. And he has been a member of the MCC for 20 years, chairing various committees. And that passion burns through this book. But don't expect the inside track on sporting scandals, or cases he has done. The clue is in the somewhat challenging title — the book, he writes, is in many ways a celebration of the wonder of sport, but also a digression from it. It is a 'beyond the looking glass reflection of the concept of sport' — one in which he seeks to justify the place of sport in society, in life and its 'fundamental nature and significance'. The book's chapters — a series of standalone discursive essays — span multiple topics from 'The Greeks and sport', 'Genius, talent and exceptional ability', and 'Fair play, the hand of God and sex'. But in what feels like a personal voyage of discovery, Griffiths also moves into more abstract, reflective realms, looking at consciousness, perception, sport and the human condition; and 'self-overcoming and Nietzsche'. One chapter, barely touching on sport, focuses on life and death, although the fear of the latter is likened to a fear of sporting failure. Griffiths admits he is neither a professional philosopher nor a sportsman. But as the former prime minister John Major says in the foreword, the author loves sport, especially cricket, and 'more importantly, he understands how it resonates in the human spirit'. At 500 pages, 52 chapters and with 1,300 references, the book is a well-researched philosophical treatise in clear language — but a lighthearted romp it is not. Its exhaustive analyses do, though, make a good case for sport as a bridge between action and thought — a means to metaphysical reflection. And if the summer break gives time for a marathon rather than a sprint, it will stimulate and Gibb is the former legal editor at The Times Austin Macauley £17.99 pp576. To order a copy go to Free UK standard P&P on orders over £25. Special discount available for Times+ members by Sally Smith On a snowy Christmas Eve in 1901, the treasurer of Inner Temple receives a mummified hand in a sweetly scented box. Inside is a jokey note reading 'Can I give you a hand?' More boxes containing body parts and similar notes are received by other members of the Inn, with deadly consequences. Keen to avoid a scandal, the treasurer asks the gentleman hero of this novel, a kindly and unworldly-wise barrister who lives in the hallowed Temple, Sir Gabriel Ward KC, to get to the bottom of the affair with as little fuss as possible. Importantly, the treasurer wishes to avoid the involvement of the City of London police or the attention of the press — the latter being no easy task with the 'ever-present threat of newspaper offices of Fleet Street'. The murder mystery is intertwined with a libel case that Ward has been asked to undertake, representing a 19-year-old music hall starlet, Topsy Tillotson, against the Nation's Voice, a tabloid with a declining circulation facing a precarious financial future. Meanwhile, that paper's editor is disappointed by the speedy trial of another crime, known as the lawnmower murder, complaining that 'when I was a lad … a good murder would guarantee headlines for days'. With the growing backlog of criminal cases, today's barristers may find some irony in this lament by the editor: 'I dunno what is happening to English justice' — it has become 'more efficient, more expeditious, altogether more businesslike. I hates it. Bring back the old days.' In this tale, the press and the Bar meet once a year when the former is invited to evensong in the Temple Church, followed by high table dinner in the Inner Temple — a tradition that has since died out. Two sometimes overlapping plot lines are deftly woven together in a meticulously researched work that opens the doors of readers to the history and traditions of the Temple. It is set in a time when gentlemen wore top hats and pocket watches and only men could become lawyers or serve on juries. The presence of women on a jury was thought to be 'detrimental to the administration of justice' and the only female characters seen in the Temple are its cooks, maids, housekeepers and laundresses. This is the second book in Sally Smith's trials of Gabriel Ward KC historical mystery series. Called to the Bar in 1977, Smith practised as a barrister from 1 Crown Office Row, the set where the fictional Ward is based, and still lives in the Temple. Before retiring from the Bar to write full time, Smith wrote a biography of the Edwardian barrister Sir Edward Marshall Hall Baksi is a journalist and former practising barrister Bloomsbury £16.99 pp320. To order a copy go to Free UK standard P&P on orders over £25. Special discount available for Times+ members by Roger Ede Ian, a defence solicitor who's about to be appointed to the bench, has just successfully thwarted an investigation by Vic, a corrupt police officer, into a call-girl racket. As a result Ray, the owner of the escort agency, gives Ian a night with Stella as a bonus. Ian becomes besotted with Stella, who, in league with Vic, decides to blackmail him at the same time as arranging for him to kill Ian's wife, Annie, who in turn is persuaded to blackmail Ian. Meanwhile, back at the police station, Carly, who has a grudge against Vic, her superior officer, may be having an affair with Kate, a detective agency owner, who does work for Ian. Kate's flatmate, a Japanese woman, Chi, has been introduced to Grant, a clerk in a set of barristers' chambers that Ian instructs, and has been persuaded by him to invest her life savings of £50,000, which he then loses in a cross-Temple betting racket in which suitably vouched for barristers and judges bet on the results of cases including those in which they are involved. Somewhere along the line, Ian and another man are accused of murdering Stella — and Chi wants her money back. All clear so far? Now read on. In the second half of the 16th century, one of the earlier reported cases was that of R v Saunders and Archer, in which the doctrine of transferred malice was propounded. Saunders decided to poison his wife with a doctored apple, but at the last minute his wife gave the fruit to his daughter Eleanor, whom he had no intention of killing. But the girl did die and Saunders was convicted of her murder. Archer, the accomplice who had supplied the poison, was acquitted. When the deaths come in this book, the author uses the doctrine as the basis of the defence but will it succeed in this day and age? Ede, a former judge and one-time criminal law specialist at the Law Society, has written several legal textbooks, but Poisonous, which also serves as a useful little guide to Japanese slang, is his first novel. It rollocks along, with hitmen in Amsterdam, reluctant witnesses 700 miles from Moscow and frolics in Brazil. But it really needed a firm editorial hand with characters coming and going and little in the way of their development. However, Ede may have created a sub-genre of crime fiction — legal fantasy Morton is an author and a former criminal law solicitor Troubador Publishing £10.99 pp344. To order a copy go to Free UK standard P&P on orders over £25. Special discount available for Times+ members by Richard Susskind Artificial intelligence poses the biggest threat — and perhaps the biggest opportunity — to lawyers today. Most advocates, says Richard Susskind, feel no threat from the emerging technology —computers, after all, cannot stand up in court. But lawyers ignore that computers and online courts eliminate much of the need for oral advocacy. 'You may be a great blacksmith,' Susskind argues, 'but if horses are rarely used, that skill becomes irrelevant.' So what does AI portend for lawyers and their work? And not just for lawyers — for everyone? Susskind, a long-standing legal profession IT guru and former technology adviser to the lord chief justice, is well placed to give a verdict. In his latest book, he is 'generally upbeat' about its prospects. But despite the huge benefits, he admits to being 'increasingly concerned' by actual and potential problems. • Artificial intelligence could replace traditional lawyers by 2035 This timely layman's guide recounts how AI began — a seminal moment came in 1997, when the world chess champion, Garry Kasparov, was beaten by an IBM supercomputer called Deep Blue. The system had explored 200 million possible moves in one second, while the most a skilled chess-playing human can contemplate is about 110 moves at any given time. Twenty-five years later, the arrival in 2022 of ChatGPT was, in Susskind's words, 'the most remarkable breakthrough in my forty years of working on AI'. It was also a milestone in public recognition of AI's potential. A chatbot that mimics human conversation, the system can answer almost any question in ordinary language and produce content on demand, including art, music and video — even code-writing software. Susskind's highly readable book is a mix of history, analysis of the status quo and ultimately intensely personal reflection — moving into philosophical realms and big moral questions such as the future relationship between humanity, super-intelligent machines and the cosmos itself. Is AI a force for good or bad — and can its development be controlled? Or is it like Frankenstein's monster? Susskind predicts that the most powerful digital technologies are yet to come — something he finds both exhilarating and deeply unsettling. The author believes the genie is only half out of the bottle, that computers are still within our control. But Cassandra-like, the guru warns that governments, institutions and business must be alert to harnessing AI's benefits and managing the risks of super-intelligent machines that will match or exceed human performance. Assume, he says, that AI systems will rival or outperform humans in almost all cognitive tasks. There will be work a-plenty in devising the ethical constraints, the division of wealth created, the regulatory frameworks. The brightest and the best, he concludes, will be needed to harness AI — and no doubt lawyers will be at the heart of it. Frances Gibb is the former Legal Editor at The Times Oxford University Press £10.99 224pp. To order a copy go to Free UK standard P&P on orders over £25. Special discount available for Times+ members by Guy Beringer, illustrated by Margaret Beringer Children's books are dismissed by some as being too simple to read — yet Guy Beringer's trilogy proves how wrong that assumption is. Across the volumes readers will encounter a series of daring adventures, unique characters, irony, humour and enlightening descriptions filled with both realistic and fictional elements. Here, children of all ages can explore a fantastic world of woodland creatures whose journeys explore themes from friendship to the complexities of law. In addition, the illustrations by Margaret Beringer, the author's wife, are beautiful, letting little ones' imaginations fly. The first volume, Crossing the Creek, introduces the cast of animal characters and is extremely well thought through and engaging, assuring the narrative is easy to follow. Younger children will need some help reading this, but any difficulty with the vocabulary will boost their learning and understanding of language. Beringer really knows how to incorporate fun and an educational aspect into this volume. In addition to the rich writing, humour plays a great part and shapes the volume, with characters such as the otter or Freddy the Mouse depicted with irony. In Mr Badger's Story, the second volume, Beringer dips into his experience as a lawyer — he is a former senior partner of A&O Shearman, one of the City's 'magic circle' firms — to bring courtroom drama to the table in a humorous manner. He sets about describing the crown court where one of the characters finds itself accused of 'high treason'. Mr Badger does not fully comprehend the situation and this allows Beringer to go into further detail on the law. It provides a clear image for children, yet echoes a child's perspective on the confusing rules that govern the legal world in practice. • 'Criminalising children so young has a massive impact' The last volume, The Riddle of Inow, involves a group on a mission to uncover the truth behind decisions made by Lady/Queen Cosima Crown, ruler of Crow Country — a forbidden territory that is explored in the first volume — to solve a conundrum. This volume completes the trilogy with finesse — and a grand trial. The Tales from Port Navas Creek is one of the most engaging children's trilogies I have read and I particularly enjoyed that it has many legal twists. Alma-Constance Denis-Smith is 14 and co-hosts the Kids Law podcast Published by Troubadour Publishing on September 22 at £14.99 each Times Law will take a three-week break and returns on September 4
