Out of Sight

Chapter 1

Freo

I was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in WA in 1975. By that stage I had seen a bit of life. I had seen how the system could destroy individuals who did not have the power or resources to fight back. I drifted into criminal defence work. My colleagues were horrified, saying that I could never make a quid doing that sort of law. Crime doesn’t pay, they said, do commercial law.

Ah, I replied, but I’ll have a better class of client.

My friends were right. Criminal defence work was tough. Most clients were funded by legal aid, whose fees could only be described as modest.

Tougher still was the police force. Casual violence by them against civilians was frequent, and violence against suspects commonplace. If a suspect were injured, then he would usually be charged with resisting arrest to explain this phenomenon. Police, when giving evidence, would invariably back up their mates. Police interviews with suspects would be evidenced by notes taken by the detective. Such notes were usually in pencil on loose leafed paper. Such a process became known as verbals. They became so notorious that eventually the High Court ruled that a jury should be given a warning of the dangers of accepting such easily fabricated evidence.

The dishonest behaviour of police to secure a conviction was known as ‘noble corruption.’ anything was permitted for the force to remove someone from the streets that they ‘knew’ was guilty. Detectives, having a few beers under their belts, would boast that they ‘had never fitted up an innocent man.’

It had been clear to a number of us that the police commissioner, Brian Bull, was not exercising enough control over some elements within his organisation. Complaints against the police were investigated by fellow police officers. It was not an open transparent process, at all. The State Government was wary of reforming the Force. The lessons of Neville Wran’s government in NSW were still raw. He had tried to institute an independent agency to investigate allegations of misconduct by police officers. Elements of the police force started a series of unauthorised phone taps on cabinet ministers. A series of leaks from these intercepts almost brought down the Government.

Lord Acton had it right when he said, Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

In July 1992 I was enjoying a brisk walk through Freo on a crisp winter’s day. I was hailed by one of my colleagues, Philip Laskaris. I had known him for some time as a bright young lawyer. I met him when he was doing articles with Ian Temby QC, at the Bar, which I joined in 1981. He was a lawyer at Frichot & Frichot, a legal firm in Fremantle.

Can I have a word? he enquired.

He told me the tale of a boy, Joe Dethridge, then aged 17. Joe was one of the children of John and Julie who ran a local estate agency. John was a football legend. He played for Claremont in the West Australian Football League. Interstate football games then were not state of origin. If you played in a state league that was the only criterion for selection. Victoria generally had the wood over the smaller states of WA and SA. It was galling to see former WA stars, lured to Victoria for big money, lining up against their home state. However, in one glorious interstate carnival in 1961, WA triumphed with a team coached by Jack Sheedy and captained by Polly Farmer. John Dethridge had been a member of that team.

Young Joe had been out with one of his friends one night and had, alas, indulged in a bit of underage drinking. His mate was leaning against a car in South Terrace, Fremantle, when a couple of police officers came along and demanded this leaning cease. The young man was rather bewildered.

I’m not hurting it, he said.

The police told him, If it’s not your car, you can’t lean on it.

Well I’ll be fucked, was the response.

He was promptly arrested for using obscene language and marched around the corner to the police lockup in Henderson Street. Joe, knowing his friend was a bit hot-headed, followed them. He protested about the rough treatment handed out to his mate, whereupon Joe was arrested.

He was pretty upset when he was in the charge room. He stood up, saying that it wasn’t right. Officers kicked his feet from under him, and he was told to sit down and shut up. He, however, continued to object, saying that there was no need for police to treat him like that. The sergeant in charge told him to shut up. When he didn’t, the sergeant walked from behind his desk and took him down a corridor. There Joe was punched by that Officer so hard that his jaw was broken.

His father turned up to bail him out. When he saw the state of his son, he exploded. He was kicked out of the station to cool down. Eventually Joe was bailed to attend the Fremantle Children’s Court on a charge of hindering the police.

Laskaris said, Julie stormed in to see the officer in charge of the Fremantle Police Station to complain. He told her he’d watched the video and that Joe was drunk and abusive.

A video in the lock up? I queried.

Yeah, it seems they were trialling it, so that if anyone got violent, the police would have evidence against them.

Has it been erased or mysteriously misplaced? I enquired.

No, as soon as I heard about it, I subpoenaed it to be produced in the Children’s Court. It’s in the custody of the court, but they won’t let me see it at this stage. Smart boy.

Yes, well the thing is, there must be something on it because the sergeant has been charged with assaulting Joe.

Ah, well, what’s the problem then? I asked.

The sergeant, Desmond John Smith, was due to appear in court tomorrow in Perth for a plea. We all expected him to plead ‘not guilty’. However, I’ve just had a call. The case was brought on this afternoon, and he pleaded guilty. John Quigley, the Police Union lawyer, tried to get the magistrate, Paul Heaney, to deal with it then and there, but he refused. He adjourned the matter until tomorrow morning, recounted Laskaris.

Well, I can’t see the problem. He’ll get a fine, I expect. If a civilian broke the jaw of a police officer, it would’ve been rather different.

John and Julie are afraid it’s going to be swept under the carpet, replied Laskaris.

Well, they may be right. I said.

They and Joe want to make sure the truth comes out. There is too much persecution of young people by Fremantle Police. It’s an endemic problem. I know witnesses are not allowed separate representation. Is there anything we can do?

Maybe there is, I replied, but I need to see them.

That’s not a problem, he said. I’ll get them. They’re just across the road.

And Joe too, I added, half an hour. Let me have a copy of your Criminal Code and the use of your boardroom.

At the appointed time, the Dethridge trio arrived. Julie was a fiery woman who looked as if she wanted to break a few jaws herself. John was a bit more reserved and not as big as I thought he would be, but he had steel in him, too. Joe was a long haired young man, but pleasant.

I told them that under the WA Criminal Code, an applicant for compensation for an injury caused by a criminal act had the right of appearance.

What does that mean? asked Julie.

Well, it means I can appear in court tomorrow, in the case against the sergeant. I can represent Joe in his claim for compensation. In addition, I will tell the Magistrate about the video. However, you have to understand this could get rather nasty. The sergeant, I understand, is a Police Union heavy and this union is particularly feral. Now Joe, it’s your case. Do you want me to go ahead?

He said, I want to do anything to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else.

The next day I wandered into the Central Law Courts in Perth. Quigley was there representing the accused; a police sergeant was prosecuting and I took a seat at the Bar table. The court was packed with media.

The magistrate, Paul Heaney, then came in. I explained that under the Code, the applicant for compensation had the right to appear. Joe had had his jaw broken and would be applying for compensation. He accepted that I was a party to the proceedings.

I tell him that he, the magistrate, had not been properly informed on sentencing. I said there was a video of the entire episode in the Fremantle lock-up, and that it was vital he view this before sentencing. He agreed and sentencing was adjourned for a few weeks.

The media was very excited about the mention of the video. ‘Did I have it?’ they clamoured. I told them that, alas I did not, but they should make their enquiries to the police.

I then went to see the Director of Public Prosecutions in WA, John McKechnie QC.

John, I said, Your office has the power and should take over this prosecution.

Yes, we have the power he said, but why should we?

Well, I’m not confident that a police prosecutor can do a thorough job in the circumstances. Police prosecuting police is not a good look. It is a case of considerable importance. The media is following closely.

He took the prosecution over and eventually received the tape. He intended to play it at the next sentencing hearing.

The day of the sentencing dawned. The court was packed, with media and police observers fighting over seats in the gallery. I was sandwiched again at the Bar table this time between John McKechnie QC as the prosecutor and Geoffrey Miller QC, who had been briefed by Quigley, for the accused.

The video was played. The assault happened off camera. However, it showed the sergeant leading Joe into a corridor. The sound records a blow, and then someone moaning in pain. The sergeant comes back into the charge room, followed by a grinning fellow officer.

McKechnie finished his submission, and Paul Heaney, SM asked me if I had anything to say.

I said that if it was to be a fine, it should be ordered to be paid to the complainant, Joe Dethridge. The magistrate agreed. I added, Look, while I’m on my feet, I suppose the video should be tendered as an exhibit. McKechnie jumped up, No, I will tender the video. It became exhibit A.

I rose again. I pointed out that under the Justices Act, which covered proceedings in the Magistrates Court, a party to a case was entitled to a copy of any exhibit. I asked for a copy of the lock-up video. It was so ordered.

McKechnie went white, he had seen the danger. Any lawyer who gave this to the media would be guilty of unprofessional conduct, he thundered. Any media which showed it would be committing a serious breach of copyright.

Empty threats, I’m afraid. I was merely going to pass on the copy to my client.

The disgraced sergeant was fined $5000. At that point a member of the media jumped up and asked the magistrate for a copy of the tape. The magistrate replied that that was not possible. If the media were excited about the tape, now that they knew I would get a copy, they became positively hysterical.

It took some days for the tape to be provided to me by the court. A number of the media contacted me wanting a copy of the video. I referred one enquiry on to John, Julie and Joe Dethridge. It was from a commercial, national current affairs program. It wanted exclusive rights, but only until it went to air at 6:30pm. After that the tape would be released to all other outlets. The Dethridges agreed with this option and were interviewed for it.

Eventually, the current affair program went to air in the Eastern States at 4:30pm, Western time. The reporter rang me at about 5:00pm. He said their switchboard in Sydney had lit up like a Christmas tree with calls after the Dethridge sequence was shown. He further said that they had locked down the Perth television station in case someone came visiting with an injunction.

It went to air in WA at 6:30pm and led the ABC news at 7:00pm. The media went berserk. I have seldom seen so much coverage. Every time the police hierarchy tried to defend their position, the video was played. A magistrate dismissed the case against Joe’s friend: the action which started the whole sequence of events, saying the arrest was unlawful. This was reported; the video was played.

The Commissioner Brian Bull claimed that the Dethridges had not made a complaint. The West Australian is Perth’s leading newspaper. This was its front page;

***

The West Australian - November 18, 1992.

Police bash case sparks more flak.

By Helen Winterton.

Senior police have known of the damaging contents of the videotape at the centre of the Joseph Dethridge bashing case for more than six months.

Dethridge family lawyer Richard Utting said yesterday that Fremantle regional officer Supt John Watts told the youth’s mother, Julie Dethridge, during a meeting on May 12 - four days after Sgt Desmond Smith broke Joseph Dethridge’s jaw - that he had seen the tape and it had become the subject of an internal investigation.

He revealed details of the meeting yesterday after Mr Bull accused the Dethridge family and their lawyers of not co-operating with the police internal investigation and criticised them for not making an official complaint.

Mr Utting said the fact that the police had seen the videotape, which included footage of the youth’s father, John Dethridge complaining about the assault, should have been enough for the police to investigate.

Police Commissioner Brian Bull claimed yesterday that the youth’s family had restricted an investigation into the matter by not lodging a formal complaint.

***

Anyone who had a complaint against the police, real or imagined, came out of the woodwork. This showed a large number of the public distrusted the police force. The media didn’t like them much either. I knew of at least one journalist, who had written a number of articles vaguely critical of the police, was warned if he didn’t pull his head in, he wouldn’t be able to get any information from the force.

I had a call from Julie Dethridge. She said that she had been told by the Police Minister that the Union was circulating a rumour that she and I were having an affair. I denied it. She also said she had had a call from the acting Police Commissioner, Frank Zanetti (Brian Bull was on leave) wanting to come to Fremantle to meet her. She wanted me to be there.

I was happy to do so and went to their office, awaiting the arrival of Z, as he was known. He said that he didn’t want me there.

Julie let out a wail and sobbed: You’ve attacked my son and now you want to take away my lawyer. Good actress that girl.

Z relented and the meeting proceeded. He told us that