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Cardinal George Pell loses appeal on child sexual assault conviction – live
Cardinal George Pell loses appeal and likely to be stripped of Order of Australia – live
(32 minutes later)
A few scenes from outside the Victorian Supreme Court this morning.
Just further to those earlier comments from prime minister Scott Morrison: he said he believed Pell would be stripped of his honours.
“My understanding is that this the [appeal loss] would result in the stripping of the honours that are decided externally to the government,” he said.
“That is a process that is done independently, and that course will now follow.”
Pell was made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2005 for service to the Catholic church, education and social justice.
Waller continues with the victim’s statement, including his desire to remain anonymous: “I need to be able to define myself away from all of this.”
I am not an advocate. You wouldn’t know my name. I am not a champion for the cause of sexual abuse survivors, although I am glad those advocates are out there. But that is not my path.
After attending the funeral of my childhood friend, the other choirboy, I felt a responsibility to come forward. I knew he had been in a dark place. I was in a dark place. I gave a statement to the police because I was thinking of him and his family. I felt I should say what I saw and what happened to me. I had experienced something terrible as a child, something that marked my life. I wanted at least some good to come of it.
I would like to acknowledge my friend who passed away, the other choirboy, and pay my deep respect to him and to his family. I would like to acknowledge the courage of those people who reported to the police. For one reason or another, your cases were not advanced. My heart goes out to you.
Some commentators have suggested that I reported to the police somehow for my own personal gain. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have risked my privacy, my health, my wellbeing, my family. I have not instructed any solicitor in relation to a claim for compensation. This is not about money and never had been.
Some commentators have suggested that I am somehow out to cause damage to the Catholic church. I’m not on a mission to do anybody any harm. Although my faith has taken a battering it is still a part of my life, and part of the lives of my loved ones.
Waller continues reading the victim’s statement:
Despite this, I appreciate that the criminal process afforded Pell every opportunity to challenge the charges and to be heard. I am glad he had the best legal representation money can buy. There are a lot of checks and balances in the criminal justice system and the appeal process is one of them.
I just hope that it is all over now.
Vivian Waller, the lawyer for the complainant in the Pell case, has read out a statement on behalf of her client:
I am relieved by the decision of the court of appeal. It is four years since I reported to the police. The criminal process has been stressful. The journey has taken me to places that in my darkest moments I feared I would not return from.
The justice machine rolls on with all of its processes and punditry, almost forgetting about the people at the heart of the matter.
Photographers have captured scenes of Pell being escorted from the supreme court
Days like this can difficult for many of us, so:
For Australian victims of child sex abuse, support is available at Bravehearts at 1800 272 831 or the Blue Knot Foundation at 1300 657 380; children or young people can also contact the Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800.
A few scenes from outside the Victorian supreme court this morning.
By the way - this is a huge testament to the value of the jury system. I will have so much to say about that. There is NO strong evidence judges alone are less biased or more correct than a jury of 12. #Pell.
By the way - this is a huge testament to the value of the jury system. I will have so much to say about that. There is NO strong evidence judges alone are less biased or more correct than a jury of 12. #Pell.
Interesting that Morrison said the decision to strip Pell of his honours is independent to the government. Back in February my colleague Paul Karp was told that if Pell lost the appeal the prime minister would write to the Council of the Order of Australia recommending it review and revoke the honour, a decision made on its recommendation by the governor general.
Interesting that Morrison said the decision to strip Pell of his honours is independent to the government. Back in February my colleague Paul Karp was told that if Pell lost the appeal the prime minister would write to the Council of the Order of Australia recommending it review and revoke the honour, a decision made on its recommendation by the governor general.
PM to strip George Pell of Order of Australia honour if cardinal loses appeal
PM to strip George Pell of Order of Australia honour if cardinal loses appeal
The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, has addressed the appeal dismissal at a press conference:
As is at the time of the earlier finding, events like this today bring it all back and I would urge Australians who find themselves re-living these experiences to reach out to those around them, and to reach out to the services that are there for them. In whatever phase of life they are in these things can take you back a long way. That’s where my sympathies are today. The courts have done their job, the’ve rendered their verdict. That’s the system of justice and it must be respected.
We have the summary of the judgment read out by Chief Justice Anne Ferguson.
Here’s the opening in full:
By majority (two to one), the court of appeal has dismissed Cardinal George Pell’s appeal against his conviction for the commission of sexual offences. He will continue to serve his sentence of six years’ imprisonment. He will remain eligible to apply for parole after he has served three years and eight months of his sentence. Whether Cardinal Pell will be released on parole will be a matter for the adult parole board, not the courts.
The father of one of Pell’s victims – who died of a heroin overdose at the age of 31 in 2014 – shed tears of relief at the verdict, his lawyer has said. The father is pursuing a civil claim.
“Today the court of appeal has made the correct decision by upholding the jury’s verdict which saw George Pell convicted of child sexual abuse. The disgraced cardinal is in the right place behind bars,” Lisa Flynn from Shine Lawyers said.
“Our client has always said that he does not want the man who he holds responsible for his son’s downhill spiral and subsequent fatal heroin overdose to ever again have contact with any members of society.
“We can only hope that this drawn-out process is over once and for all and that the case does not now end up in the high court of Australia.”
“Regardless of today’s appeal outcome, our client was always going to continue to pursue a civil claim. We will continue to fight for compensation for him. He has suffered immensely knowing what George Pell did to his son as a young choirboy.”
The Blue Knot Foundation, an organisation which represents victims of childhood trauma, says the Pell decision “provides relief for sexual abuse survivors”.
“For many survivors a conviction being upheld against a high-profile once powerful perpetrator underlines faith in the justice process and the possibility of speaking out,” the organisation said in a statement.
“Believing the victim in this case sends a message to so many other victims that what happened to you mattered and will now be more likely to be believed than ever before.
“It is rare to have corroborating evidence in a child sexual abuse case as the crime is perpetrated in secret and there are rarely witnesses. In this case there was a witness but he was lost to suicide, quite possible as a result of the very crime he could have corroborated.”
Worth remembering that Pell remains a cardinal, and we don’t know what the Vatican plans to do about that. They have said it would wait for the appeals process to be exhausted before making a decision. We’ll have to see wait to see what they say after today’s decision.
You might be wondering what happens next. For now, as I said earlier, Pell will remain in prison until at least October 2022, the length of his non-parole period in prison. But his lawyers are almost certain to make an application to appeal to the high court.
That isn’t straightforward, however. The high court would have to decide there is sufficient reason to hear the appeal.
The High Court grants leave to appeal where a case: raises new points of law; is of high public importance; is likely to involve many future cases; where lower courts have been inconsistent; and/or the case involves the interests of the administration of justice.
I’ve just spoken to Melissa Davey who was in the court this morning, as she has been throughout both trials and the appeal. From where she was sitting Pell did not seem to react when the judgment was read out, other than to bow his head occasionally.
She said it looks like prison has taken its toll on the cardinal. His hair has grown longer and he looked “dishevelled”. She’s spoken to two survivors of abuse who were in the court.
They told her they held each other’s hands as they heard the two judges had dismissed the appeal. “They were in shock, and they said justice had prevailed for victims.”
I’ve just spoken to Chrissie Foster who told me people’s understanding of this issue is at the point where they can look at the facts objectively and honestly.
“What a result – it is almost unbelievable. I was not expecting this. I went to all of the second trial and I could see it and I just hoped the jury could see it. And they did. It was forensically argued and debated. Now again. I’m amazed. So often these cases hardly any victims come forward. This is a crime fraught with not getting a guilty verdict. Any rape by its nature is done out of sight. Where are the witnesses? There are none. It’s rape.”
Ferguson and Maxwell dismissed all 13 “obstacles” to Pell committing the crime that his lawyer’s had argued. They found there was nothing about the complainant’s evidence that meant the jury must have had a doubt about the account.
“It is not enough that the jury might have had a doubt, but they must have had a doubt,” Ferguson said.
“This was a compelling witness, clearly not a liar, not a fantasist and was a witness of truth.”
And as Melissa Davey tells me from the courtroom, the robes were a huge matter of contention among the defence. They said the robes were too heavy to be manoeuvred for Pell to expose his penis. Not so, said Ferguson. The three appellant judges held the robes and picked them up. Ferguson said: “The robes were not so heavy or immovable as [witnesses] Portelli and Potter suggested.”
In summary, the appeal of the disgraced cardinal George Pell has been dismissed.
On the first ground – that the jury acted unreasonably in coming to a guilty verdict – the judges dismissed the appeal by a margin of two to one. Chief Justice Anne Ferguson and the president of the court of appeal Justice Chris Maxwell found against Pell, while Justice Mark Weinberg agreed with Pell’s lawyers.
On the second and third grounds the judges dismissed the appeal unanimously.
