In his important book, Road to Damnation, Chris Brook takes the reader on a gripping journey to the darkest reaches of human experience – the drowning of three children – when it intersects with the law. Brook places the case of Robert Farquharson – their father – at the interface between law, science, society and psychology, as we first reported on October 15, 2020. Farquharson was found guilty and is still in prison, serving a 33 year sentence, but efforts to overturn his conviction continue.
We have published a total of six articles on the case of Robert Farquharson, including three excerpts from Brook’s book. (Access the articles via the menu on the right of this page.) Note our headline: Road to Damnation follows the science to a wrongful conviction – it is literal and also a reference to Brook’s scientific qualifications as an astrophysicist; Chris also has law and commerce degrees. In other words, he is a professional scientist who knows the scientific method. He digs for real evidence, dismisses false narratives and mischaracterisations.
The bare bones:
Police allege Farquharson drove his car with his three young sons into a roadside dam on purpose to drown them. (They didn’t consider whether he was suicidal, since he escaped but couldn’t save the boys.)
Farquharson claims he blacked out in a fit of coughing, the car then out of control careened down the roadside slope into the dam.
After two years investigating the case, Brook had concluded that the evidence indicates that he is innocent.
