Child Killer Kathleen Folbigg to Seek Judicial Inquiry with the Support of the University of Newcastle Legal Centre
Monday 20 January 2014 @ 8.43 a.m. | Crime
With the support of the University of Newcastle Legal Centre, convicted serial child killer Kathleen Folbigg plans to seek a judicial inquiry into her case by early 2014.
Legal Centre director Shaun McCarthy said it was ‘‘an appropriate case for the Legal Centre to be working on."
An extensive submission will argue there is ‘‘serious disquiet’’ about her 2003 convictions for the manslaughter of one of her children, and the murder of another three children between 1989 and 1999 at Singleton.
Academic lawyer Emma Cunliffe concluded, in a thesis which became the 2011 book 'Murder, Medicine and Motherhood,' that Folbigg had been wrongly convicted of killing her children. This prompted the Legal Centre to become involved in the case.
Helen Cummings, the daughter of former Newcastle lord mayor Joy Cummings, confirmed in Newcastle Herald articles that she had written to NSW Attorney-General Greg Smith seeking a judicial inquiry, following visits to Folbigg in Silverwater prison.
Leading Australian forensic science legal expert Gary Edmond also supports a review, saying Folbigg’s case was tainted by unreliable, misleading and outdated medical evidence.
The Legal Centre, which has acted for Folbigg since July 2013, plans to lodge a submission with NSW Governor Marie Bashir and Attorney-General Greg Smith
The centre is supported by three Newcastle barristers, who are providing unpaid assistance to compile the submission.
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