"VISHAL LAKSHMAN, 74, WHO RETIRED IN 1992 AFTER 30 YEARS, DURING WHICH HE PROSECUTED DOZENS OF RAPE, MURDER AND MANSLAUGHTER TRIALS IN QUEENSLAND, IS WRITING AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY DETAILING HIS LIFE AS AN IMMIGRANT TO AUSTRALIA AND THE CRIMINAL TRIALS WITH WHICH HE WAS INVOLVED. THE ONLY PROSECUTION FROM WHICH HE EVER WITHDREW WAS THE 1992 SUPREME COURT TRIAL OF MR STAFFORD, WHO WAS CHARGED WITH THE SADISTIC MUTILATION MURDER OF SCHOOLGIRL LEANNE HOLLAND.
"I WROTE THE CHAPTER ABOUT MR STAFFORD A YEAR AGO AND MY FAMILY ENCOURAGED ME TO SPEAK OUT NOW BECAUSE IT WAS MY BELIEF AND THEIRS THAT HE WAS NOT GUILTY OF THE CRIME OF MURDER," MR LAKSHMAN SAID."
REPORTER TONY KOCH: THE AUSTRALIAN;
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BACKGROUND: Graham Stuart Stafford was a sheet metal worker from Goodna, near Ipswich, Queensland who was convicted in 1992 of the murder of twelve-year-old Leanne Sarah Holland. Leanne Holland, the younger sister of Stafford's former partner, Melissa Holland, was murdered in September 1991. Her viciously mutilated body was found three days after she was reported missing in nearby Redbank Plains. It is possible she was also sexually interfered with and tortured with a cigarette lighter. Stafford appealed to the Queensland Court of Appeal, but this appeal was rejected on 25 August 1992. In 1997, the Queensland Court of Appeal re-examined the case after Stafford lodged an application for pardon with the State Governor on the basis of evidence gathered by private detective, Graeme Crowley. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal again by a two-to-one majority on the grounds that there was still enough evidence to convict. Two applications for special leave to the High Court of Australia subsequently failed. Stafford was released in June 2006 after serving over 14 years in prison. Stafford, who was born in England and does not have Australian citizenship despite having migrated to Australia in 1969, faced deportation in November 2006. Some people, including Professor Paul Wilson of Bond University believe that Stafford is a victim of a miscarriage of justice. The Queensland Attorney-General, Kerry Shine, has agreed to closely consider any request on Stafford's behalf concerning a petition to clear him of the murder conviction. In April 2008, the Queensland Attorney-General referred the case to the Court of Appeal for a very rare second appeal for pardon. On December 24, 2009 the Court of Appeal overturned Graham Stafford's conviction and ordered a retrial by a 2-1 majority. The dissenting judge wanted an immediate acquittal...WIKIPEDIA informs us that: "A Brisbane Sunday Mail examination of the police investigation revealed that an Ipswich computer store worker provided information to the police about a man who had entered the store on the same day as Leanne's body was dumped in nearby bushland. The worker claimed that the man had been behaving in a peculiar manner and had blood stains on his hands and trousers when he entered the store. Furthermore, reports of Leanne having been seen alive on the day after the police allege she was murdered were ignored. A report of a vehicle other than Stafford's being sighted near the body was also ignored. Forensic scientist, Angela van Daal, gave evidence at trial that helped convict Stafford of the murder. She has since stated that the blood identified as Leanne's could have come from another family member. Although the frequency of the blood type matching anyone in the general population was only about one percent, the frequency among relatives is as high as 25 percent. Around the time of the murder, Leanne's brother Craig had slashed his hand in a pub fight and had bled freely in the family home. It has also been revealed that another twelve-year-old girl was murdered less than one kilometre away from where Leanne Holland lived within thirteen days of Leanne's murder. The man who was charged with the second murder had been known to Leanne. Furthermore, daughters of a police informant in the Leanne Holland case have come forward claiming their father sexually abused them at the murder site, burnt them with cigarette lighters and showed them crime scene photographs of Leanne's body."
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"ALMOST 20 years after Graham Stafford was convicted of the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl in Ipswich, one of Queensland's most experienced crown prosecutors has revealed that he declined to prosecute at the trial because he did not believe the accused committed the crime," the April 27, 2010 "The Australian" story by reporter Tony Koch, begins, under the heading, "Doubt turned prosecutor Vishal Lakshman off Graham Stafford case."
"Vishal Lakshman, 74, who retired in 1992 after 30 years, during which he prosecuted dozens of rape, murder and manslaughter trials in Queensland, is writing an autobiography detailing his life as an immigrant to Australia and the criminal trials with which he was involved," the story continues.
"The only prosecution from which he ever withdrew was the 1992 Supreme Court trial of Mr Stafford, who was charged with the sadistic mutilation murder of schoolgirl Leanne Holland.
"I wrote the chapter about Mr Stafford a year ago and my family encouraged me to speak out now because it was my belief and theirs that he was not guilty of the crime of murder," Mr Lakshman said.
"Among the many records I kept and from which I drew to write my memoirs is a copy of a memo I wrote on December 4, 1991, to the then director of prosecutions, Royce Miller QC.
"At the time, I wrote: `I refer to our brief discussion regarding this matter. Stafford has been committed for trial and the evidence is entirely circumstantial. There are features in this case that give rise to some doubt that Stafford is the offender in this crime'."
Among the many high-profile murder cases Mr Lakshman prosecuted were the cases of Bevan Meninga, brother of rugby league great Mal Meninga; Barrie Watts, killer of Sian Kingi on the Sunshine Coast in 1987; child murderer Barry Hadlow, who was released after serving life for one child murder, then murdered another at Roma in western Queensland; and Ernest Knibb, who murdered ABC scriptwriter Miranda Downes on a beach north of Cairns in 1985.
Mr Lakshman's detailed memo to Mr Miller concluded: "I have done many circumstantial evidence cases over the years and this is one of the few in which I find myself having some reservations as to whether the accused is the perpetrator of this crime.
"I may not entertain any such view after some discussion with you but it would be desirable if you would be good enough to look at the material yourself and let me have your comments some time next year."
Mr Stafford said yesterday he was devastated to hear of the memo Mr Lakshman wrote and questioned why the Director of Public Prosecutions did not make the information available to the defence team at his trial or subsequent appeals. "It is gut-wrenching - this whole thing could have been sorted out before it started if we had known," Mr Stafford said from his Sunshine Coast home. "We knew there was something amiss when my counsel from the committal was changed, and so was the prosecutor."
At the time of the murder, Mr Stafford was living with the Holland family and was engaged to Leanne's older sister, Melissa. He was alone at home with Leanne on the day she went missing. At his trial, the prosecution alleged he beat her to death with a hammer, kept her body in the boot of his car for two days, then disposed of it in the bush several kilometres from the Hollands' home. Her body had burn and stab marks consistent with having been tortured.
Stafford, now 45, was convicted and served 15 years of a life sentence before his release in 2006.
He consistently maintained his innocence and a support team took up his case while he was in prison, organising several appeals.
Last December, the Queensland Court of Appeal set aside Stafford's conviction, on grounds of a miscarriage of justice, and ordered a retrial. But Director of Public Prosecutions Tony Moynihan SC said the crown would not conduct a retrial because in the 20 years since the offence, "evidence had been adversely affected".
So Mr Stafford is left in limbo. His conviction has been set aside and his innocence presumed, but he has served 15 years in prison and the state is not liable for compensation because he has not been found "not guilty". Mr Stafford said yesterday: "I am indebted to the honesty and decency of Mr Lakshman for coming out now as he has done, but the fact is it would have made a huge difference to my appeal team or at my original trial if we had been made aware of it.
"I am just devastated now to hear that this important opinion was available but was kept from me."
The story can be found at:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/doubt-turned-prosecutor-vishal-lakshman-off-graham-stafford-case/story-e6frg6nf-1225858548541
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
