Andrew L. Urban
It must have been quietly heartbreaking for Rowena Greenaway to come across this document on the eve of Christmas 2025, written on 9 August 1962, attesting to her now husband Noel Greenaway’s “integrity and high personal standards”. A couple of years or so after that document was written, Noel is alleged to have committed scores of hideous crimes of sexual and physical abuse on teenagers at an institution. Rowena couldn’t show it to Noel – he is in prison serving a 20 year sentence.
“…Mr Greenaway has continued to apply himself, he takes pride in the efficient discharge of his responsibilities and will voluntarily work beyond his normal hours of duty to cope with any pressure of work. He is always on the alert for any method of streamlining of his routine with the object of improving its overall efficiency.
“He has continued to show an interest in the sporting activities of the inmates. And regularly assists on a Saturday with the supervision of sporting fixtures. Mr Greenaway is a young man of integrity and high personal standards whose conduct and services have been eminently satisfactory.”
The Conduct and Services report was effectively a character reference written by the Superintendent at Parramatta Girls Training School around the time Rowena met Noel. She was working at nearby Parramatta Hospital in pathology, where all the tests were processed for the PGTS inmates. The samples were delivered on Tuesday and Thursday each week by senior officers from PGTS. As the clerk, Noel would come in every second Thursday with one of the senior officers and after dropping off the samples they went to the bank to collect the cash to pay staff. “After a while,” says Rowena, “Noel came a bit more often…”
A dozen more glowing character references were addressed to the trial judge for him to consider when sentencing Noel (there is no mention of them in his sentencing remarks).
First of all, it’s a bit late at sentencing. Shouldn’t the jury hear them?
Second, the uncorroborated testimony of claimants in sexual crimes is now taken as the evidence; in those circumstances, the credibility of the complainants is paramount. Shouldn’t the jury hear character references about these witnesses during the trial?
In his book, Presumption of Evil, Urban traces the Greenaway family’s nightmare from the phone call that alerted Noel that he would be named – the next day – in the Royal Commission, through the trial and the appeal, to the day he met the ‘evil’ Noel face to face in a supermax prison.
Happy Christmas to Noel and his family and to all those wrongfully convicted.