Cheryl Grimmer’s family issues ultimatum to New South Wales authorities — ABC News Australia
In Australia, Cheryl Grimmer’s family has called on New South Wales Premier Chris Minns to order an independent audit of the case concerning the girl’s disappearance 56 years ago. If the government does not respond by September 29, the family plans to ask supportive members of the state’s Legislative Council to seek government documents in the case, ABC News Australia reports.
In a letter to Minns and state Attorney General Michael Daley sent on September 22, the family accused Director of Public Prosecutions Sally Dowling of a “catastrophic failure of public accountability.” The appeal followed her decision to uphold the discontinuation of the criminal prosecution in the murder case.
The 1970 disappearance
Cheryl Grimmer was three years old when she disappeared in January 1970 near the showers at Fairy Meadow Beach in Wollongong. Her body has never been found.
In 1971, a 17-year-old boy told police that he had abducted and killed the child. Investigators then tried to find corroboration for his account but considered the available evidence insufficient to bring charges.
Decades later, detectives reviewed the recording of that interview again. The man, referred to by the court under the pseudonym “Mercury,” was charged with murder in 2017. He pleaded not guilty.
Why the proceedings were discontinued
In 2019, the criminal prosecution was discontinued after Justice Robert Hulme ruled that the police interview could not be used as evidence. Prosecutors said that without the recording, the prosecution could not succeed.
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The judge noted that in 1971, the law did not require a supportive adult to be present during a minor’s interview. At the same time, he concluded that child-protection legislation introduced in 1987 applied to determining whether the recording could be used at a later trial. The court also found that using the recording would be unfair, given the manner of the interview and “Mercury’s” vulnerability at the time.
The family’s and authorities’ positions
This year, the family secured a review of the decision by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and submitted 54 submissions. In findings dated September 16, Dowling upheld the discontinuation of the case, saying there were no reasonable grounds to challenge the court’s exclusion of the interview recording.
The family says the response did not address its legal arguments and information about potential witnesses, nor did it explain how the public interest in prosecution was assessed. It declined a proposed meeting with Dowling and requested detailed written explanations.
Daley said the key issue of the review was the exclusion of the recorded interview, a legal issue already considered by the Supreme Court. According to him, New South Wales Police continue working to provide the family with answers, and a reward of AUD 1 million is still offered for information in the case. At the same time, his statement did not respond to the demand for an independent audit.
State upper-house MP Jeremy Buckingham sought to introduce a legislative amendment that would create an exception to the later requirement for an adult to be present for statements made by children before 1988. State Treasurer Daniel Mookhey objected, saying such a change would remove a safeguard in other cases.
