Monday, July 23, 2018

Three key players, including a judge, failed to disclose Anglican church associations in 2001 trial

From England-

STEVE Smith calls it an ambush – the day he walked into a Newcastle courtroom to give evidence against an Anglican priest only to be blindsided by a judge’s attack against him, in a trial where three key players had undisclosed associations with the church.

Seventeen years after the case against the priest collapsed, Mr Smith has written to Attorney General Mark Speakman seeking an apology from the State of NSW.

“I expected to get beaten up by the defence but I had a judge attacking my credibility in court. He was basically calling me a liar in court, that I was fabricating it. I remember thinking, someone say something,” Mr Smith said.

“I spent years in the wilderness, despairing about what happened. I spent years thinking, I should have just shut my mouth. So the state should apologise. I just want some acknowledgement it was wrong. I want the state to take responsibility for that because it was devastating. It was soul-destroying. It’s unfinished business for me.”

More here-

https://www.theherald.com.au/story/5535623/the-ambush-and-the-apology-abuse-survivor-takes-on-the-state/

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