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Andrew Mallard

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Andrew Mallard is a West Australian who was convicted in 1995 and sentenced to life imprisonment for the violent murder of Pamela Lawrence on May 23, 1994. The evidence used in Mallard's trial was scarce and obscure, and it was later revealed that the police withheld vital information from his defence team. Almost twelve years later, and only after a High Court appeal, his conviction was quashed, a re-trial ordered, the charges against him dropped and Andrew Mallard released. At the time the Director of Public Prosecutions stated that Andrew Mallard remained the prime suspect and that if any further evidence became available he could still be prosecuted.

In 2006 police conducted a review of the investigation and subsequently a cold case review. As a result they uncovered sufficient compelling evidence to charge convicted murderer Simon Rochford with the murder of Pamela Lawrence and to eliminate Andrew Mallard as a person of interest. Prior to this being announced, but after he had been interviewed by police, Simon Rochford was found dead in his cell in Albany Prison with no suspicious circumstances.

The Western Australian Commission on Crime and Corruption is currently investigating whether there was misconduct by any public officer (police, prosecutor or member of parliament) associated with this case.

Evidence at the Trial

Mallard was convicted chiefly on two pieces of evidence. The police detectives has taken notes during interviews with Mallard in which they claimed he had confessed. These notes were not signed by the accused. Secondly, a video of the last twenty minutes of Mallard's eleven hours of interviews was submitted. The video shows Mallard theorising on how the murderer might have killed Pamela Lawrence, but police claimed it was a confession spoken in the third person.

Mallard had no history of violence. No murder weapon was ever found. No blood was found on Mallard, despite the extreme violence of the murder and the crime scene being covered with it. No DNA evidence was produced. He was convicted solely on the confessions supposedly obtained by the police and the bizarre video. In 1996, Mallard's Supreme Court appeal was dismissed.

Investigation

In 1998, Mallard's family enlisted the help of investigative journalist Colleen Egan, who in turn managed to get John Quigley MLA and Malcolm McCusker QC involved. All were appalled at the manner in which Mallard's trial had been conducted and eventually came to be convinced that he was innocent. Based on fresh evidence uncovered by this team, including a raft of police reports that, against standard practice, had never been passed to the defence team, the case was returned to the Court of Criminal Appeal in June 2003. Despite the fresh evidence and an uncontested claim that the DPP had deliberately concealed evidence from the defence, the Court of Criminal Appeal again dismissed the appeal.

High Court Appeal

In October 2004, Mallard's legal team were granted special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia and on September 6 and 7, 2005, Mallard's appeal was heard in the High Court and the Justices subsequently judged unanimously that his conviction be quashed and a re-trial be ordered. During the hearing, Justice Michael Kirby was reported to have said that on one of the pieces of evidence alone - a forensic report, not disclosed to the defence, showing that Mallard's theory about the weapon used in the murder could not have been true - a re-trial should have been ordered.

The DPP did not immediately drop charges against Mallard but did so six months later immediately before a directions hearing was due. After almost twelve years in prison, Mallard was released on February 20, 2006. However in announcing that the trial would not proceed the DPP stated:

"Finally, I note for the record and for the future that this decision is made on evidence presently available to the prosecution. The discharge of Mr Andrew Mallard on this charge does not alter the fact that he remains the prime suspect for this murder. Should any credible evidence present in the future which again gives the state reasonable prospects of obtaining a conviction again, the state would again prosecute him."

Documentary

A documentary called "Saving Andrew Mallard" was directed by Michael Muntz and produced by Artemis International, focussing on Mallard's family, their struggle to have him freed, the deception undertaken by the original Police investigation team and the evidence uncovered that eventually led to Mallard's freedom. It was first aired on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Television on May 4, 2006. It was shortlisted for a Walkley Award and Michael Muntz won the Outstanding Achievement in Directing Award in the WA Screen Awards.

The documentary's epilogue noted that the DPP still consider Mallard a prime suspect in their investigation.

Review of Investigation and Cold Case Review

Following the discontinuance of the prosecution by the DPP, the Commissioner of Police instituted a review of the investigation to establish whether there were sufficient grounds for a "cold case" review. The review quickly located a record of a palm print which matched that of Simon Rochford, who had confessed to murdering his girlfriend, Brigitta Dickens, on 15 July 1994, seven weeks after Mrs Lawrence was killed[1]. The print had been found on the top of a display case in Lawrence's shop, which was significant, as it had been the practice of the shop staff to wipe the top of that case after each customer left.

On this basis the review became a cold case review. The weapon used by Rochford to kill Dickens was a steel collar of the type used by weight lifters to secure weights to a bar. Rochford had attached the collar to a broom handle and used it to club Dickens to death. The actual collar could not be located in 2006 but its dimensions were known and a photograph was available. The collar was consistent with the wounds in Lawrence's skull - in fact it is the only object ever located which was consistent with these wounds.

The photograph of the collar indicated it was blue and a rucksack belonging to Rochford was found to contain paint flakes which were identical in chemical composition to those removed from Mrs Lawrence's wounds.

Rochford's appearance, in particular his beard, was more consistent with the original accounts of eyewitnesses than was Mallard's.

On May 12, 2006, five police officers were stood down by the West Australia Police commissioner in relation to the original investigation into the murder.

At about 7:45 am AWST on May 19, 2006, the body of Simon Rochford was discovered in his cell at Albany Maximum Security Prison by prison officers just hours after he had been named as "a person of significant interest" in the Pamela Lawrence investigation.

On 11 October 2006 the Western Australian Police Commissioner announced that the cold case review was complete, that Andrew Mallard was no longer a person of interest in relation to the case; that there was sufficient evidence to implicate Simon Rochford and that, if he had still been living the police would have prepared a Brief of Evidence against him for the WA Director of Public Prosecutions.

The Police Commissioner apologised to Mallard for any part the police had played in his conviction. The Premier indicated that the government would be considering compensation, though the Attorney General stated that no decision could be made until the Commission on Crime and Corruption had completed its investigation. However, on 22 November 2006, the Adelaide advertiser carried an AAP story stating that Andrew Mallard had received A$200,000 as partial compensation.

Commission on Crime and Corruption Hearings

The Commission on Crime and Corruption announced that it was studying the report of the cold case review and would be holding public hearings in 2007. In the meantime it had asked the police not to release the full report either to the public or within the police force and in particular ensure that police involved in the original investigation had no access to it. The CCC hearings into whether police and/or prosecutors behaved unethically or illegally in the Andrew Mallard case began on 31 July, 2007.

References

  1. ^ Transcript of CCC Public Hearings,Opening Remarks 31 Jul 07 p15 lines 1-11
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