False Witness: The Disgraceful Dr Manock: Australia’s greatest forensic and legal disaster

On at 6pm ACST, Wednesday 4 June, 2025, legal academic Bob Moles will be leading a three hour class on the materials he is using for the forthcoming book False Witness: The Disgraceful Dr Manock.   Continue reading

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High Court orders retrial. Why?

One of our readers, concerned citizen MONIQUE BERTINO-CLARKE, reflects on one of the latest decision of the High Court, which suggests it is part of a deficient system that needs to be overhauled.  Continue reading

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Read All About It! And weep…

FRAMED – How The Legal System Framed Robert Xie For The Lin Family Murders (Prime KDP), by Andrew L. Urban is only the latest book exposing wrongful convictions in Australia. Some, like FRAMED, are case specific, others look at the whole system. Nobody can claim ignorance of how rotten our criminal justice system has become. And how the self-regulating legal system either doesn’t care or it is not fit for purpose.  Continue reading

Posted in Case 01 Sue Neill-Fraser, Case 02 Henry Keogh, Case 03 David Szach, Case 04 Gordon Wood, Case 11 Robert Xie, Case 13 Robert Farquharson, Case 17 Kathleen Folbigg, Case 22 Noel Greenaway | Leave a comment

FRAMED a book that had to be written – Stuart Tipple launches Urban’s new book

Speaking to a crowded room of invited guests in the middle of Sydney’s legal precinct, former Chamberlain lawyer Stuart Tipple said it’s a book that should be written, adding,  “… the problem with our adversarial system is that it is not a system that pursues the truth”.  Continue reading

Posted in Case 11 Robert Xie | 3 Comments

FRAMED – book launch photos

Photos from the May 8, 2025 launch of FRAMED at State Chambers, Martin Place. All photos by David Miller. Continue reading

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FRAMED – May 8, 2025, Sydney book launch invitation

Stuart Tipple, the lawyer who represented Lindy Chamberlain, will officially launch Andrew L. Urban’s latest book, FRAMED – how the legal system framed Robert Xie for the Lin family murders, on Thursday May 8, 2025. Margaret Cunneen SC will be the special guest at the event.

Tipple has been there done that; Lindy Chamberlain was convicted of her baby’s murder but ultimately – years later – exonerated and compensated for that wrongful conviction. The system has not changed; it is as prone to error as ever, notably in the field of forensic evidence.

The launch will be held from 6pm – 7.30; refreshments will be served.

RSVP TO: andrew.urban@wrongfulconvictionsreport.org

The first five readers to accept this invitation for you & a guest will be provided with details of the venue in the Sydney CBD.

Posted in Case 11 Robert Xie | 8 Comments

Australia the loser among developed nations on wrongful convictions

Australia’s record on wrongful convictions in serious crimes lags behind many developed countries due to systemic gaps in case review mechanisms, compensation frameworks and public accountability, as researched by AI. Continue reading

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FRAMED – REVIEWS

Some first readers of Andrew L. Urban’s new book, FRAMED – how the legal system framed Robert Xie for the Lin family murders, share their responses.

“After several years of research, Andrew Urban’s new book, Framed, is a thorough examination of the terrible, brutal murders of the Lin family in 2009 that shocked Sydney, as brought to trial – four times. The book contains information of which very few ordinary Australians are likely to be aware.

Crucially, Urban argues that a jury acting rationally ought to have entertained reasonable doubt about the guilt of the accused – Robert Xie. He dissects the way the prosecution tried to negate his alibi, which was supported under oath by his wife, Kathy. If he’s right, this is an extraordinary failure of the justice system. Read it and judge for yourself.”
Margaret Cunneen SC
Barrister at Law

“I have finished reading the book. As I have found with all Urban’s writings, very easy to read. I had always questioned whether one person could have carried out the crime. Now I am even more convinced there must have been more than one person, and there was no person known who could have possibly helped Xie. As you have pointed out there are many more questions to be resolved (eg the secret phone).

“As the wife of wrongfully convicted Noel Greenaway, I am well aware of how the legal system can go off the rails and do terrible damage to innocent people.”
Rowena Greenaway
 

After the Chamberlain Royal Commission, exoneration and compensation most commentators opined, “Well the system got it right in the end.” In fact, the system completely failed and continues to fail. The Chamberlains were fortunate to have people who kept asking the right questions. This is a luxury afforded to very few.

Our adversarial system is not designed to find the truth. The truth is better found in the Royal Commission Inquiry model. Without people having the courage and determination to examine and question the system, miscarriages will never be corrected.

The eminent English jurist, John Macdonell observed, “There is no accepted test of civilisation. It is not wealth or the degree of comfort or the average duration of life or the increase of knowledge. All such tests would be disputed. In default of any other measure, may it not be suggested that as good a measure as any is the degree to which men are sensitive to wrongdoing and desirous to right it.”

This book examines the trials and conviction of Robert Xie. After four trials there are many unanswered questions.

I applaud the author for asking the questions that need to be answered.
Stuart Tipple
Lawyer

Clearly the onus of proof has been reversed in this case and speculation has been presented as if it were ‘evidence’ which is clearly an affront to human dignity as much as it is to a properly ordered legal system.

The fourth and final trial was clearly farcical in terms of any possibility of a rational assessment of the ‘evidence’ – months of technical scientific evidence with weeks of legal submissions which even a trained lawyer would find hard to follow must have made the task as impossible for the legal participants as it was for the jury and the accused. But after having gone to all that expense and trouble there had to be a verdict, and the outcome in this case is as offensive to justice as it is to rationality. Nothing short of a Royal Commission will get this badly damaged ship back on course.
Dr Bob Moles
Flinders University
Adjunct Associate Professor
College of Business, Government and Law
Flinders University of South Australia

This insightful book raises many important questions in relation to forensic evidence, the treatment of key witnesses by those in authority, and the use of prison informants. Urban reveals startling information about factors and forces external to the family which were relevant to the case. The book is a sad and shocking exposé of miscarriage of justice in the criminal justice system.
Rosemary Eliott

More reviews (scroll down)

Posted in Case 11 Robert Xie | 2 Comments

Legal challenge filed against Tasmanian Parole Board’s decision to gag free speech

April 28, 2025: The Human Rights Law Centre has filed legal proceedings on behalf of Tasmanian grandmother, Susan Neill-Fraser, to challenge a restrictive parole condition placed on her by the Tasmanian Parole Board seeking to limit her ability to speak to the media.

The case, filed in the Supreme Court of Tasmania, argues that preventing Susan from speaking to the media is improper, unlawful and in breach of the constitutionally implied freedom of political communication.

Parole is intended to support people to reintegrate into the community after time spent in prison. The Human Rights Law Centre is concerned by the largely unchecked powers of parole boards throughout the country which impose restrictive parole conditions that prevent people’s full participation in the community. Restrictive parole conditions have a disproportionate impact on already marginalised groups who are overrepresented in the criminal legal system.

Sarah Schwartz, Legal Director at the Human Rights Law Centre said:
“Everyone has the right to free speech and freedom of political communication, including and especially people who have been incarcerated.

“The parole system should support people’s re-entry into the community after being in prison. Parole conditions which are repressive and restrict people’s fundamental human rights do the opposite. They set people up to fail and create hurdles that push people back into prison.

“The right to political communication is fundamental to our democracy and safeguarded by Australia’s constitution, while our right to free speech is protected by international human rights law. These rights should not be restricted unless there is a legitimate reason.”

Background

Susan Neill-Fraser served 13 years in prison and has been on parole since 2022. In December 2024, the Tasmanian Parole Board placed a condition on Susan parole which prohibited her from communicating “directly or indirectly with any media outlet to claim [her] alleged innocence and/or wrongful conviction”.

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Case 01 Sue Neill-Fraser | 14 Comments

Free the dangerous, jail the innocent?

Andrew L. Urban

Why do we keep letting monsters out?That’s the headline on the top editorial in the Saturday Telegraph (26/4/2025). The context is the latest murder of a young woman (Audrey Griffin) by a man free on parole yet known as a violent predator (Adrian Torrens). “A man who should never have been on the streets,” went the editorial.  Continue reading

Posted in Case 01 Sue Neill-Fraser, Case 11 Robert Xie, Case 22 Noel Greenaway, General articles | 3 Comments