Andrew L. Urban.
“Shorty” Jamieson, who is just 150cm tall and who has foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, was convicted of murder on the supposedly verbatim confession detectives presented as evidence – a mechanically typed document that not even the fastest typists could now replicate on modern computers.
A petition led by Melbourne University Professor Helen Fraser and RMIT University Associate Dean Michele Ruyters was tabled in NSW parliament on Tuesday (Oct. 13, 2026) by Greens MP Sue Higginson. With more than 550 signatures, they hope it will fast-track an inquiry into the 1988 murder of bank teller Janine Balding and the resulting conviction of Jamieson.
Helen Fraser, Sue Higginson and Peter Breen at Parliament House to present the petition
The petition was presented along with a memorandum outlining the problems with the confession evidence as it was used in 1988 and as it has been responded to ever since.
Jamieson has always maintained his innocence but he has spent 38 years imprisoned mostly at the maximum security Goulburn Correctional Centre.
The crucial new evidence: 30 typists with speeds of 40-200wpm captured on average 35% of a 3-minute interview excerpt in real time, using modern computers. The 1988 detective-typist swore on oath that he had captured the exact words of a confession supposedly made by Jamieson during a 4-hour police interview – in real time, using a mechanical typewriter. “That can’t possibly be true – meaning the jury must have reached their verdict on misleading evidence,” says Fraser
It is worth remembering that what looks like a callous perversion of the course of justice and tampering with evidence has not only stolen a man’s life, it also left the real murderer free.