‘Sad’ fact about Folbigg’s pardon

Lindy Chamberlain’s lawyer says Kathleen Folbigg needs to be declared innocent and be given compensation for her years in prison.

Stuart Tipple, senior solicitor for the Chamberlains, made the comments after Ms Folbigg was granted a pardon and released from jail after 20 years behind bars on Monday.

Ms Folbigg, 55, had been found guilty of three counts of murder and one of manslaughter in 2003 after her babies Patrick, Sarah, Laura and Caleb died suddenly between 1989 and 1999.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the case as “extraordinary”.

“This has been an extraordinary case where new evidence has led the Attorney-General of NSW, Michael Daley, to intervene and to pardon Ms Folbigg,” he told 7.30.

“She’s been in jail for some 20 years and Michael Daley has chosen to show mercy and to intervene in this case. I think it is an extraordinary set of circumstances. And I’m certain of the obvious is that Kathleen Folbigg will be very relieved today.”

Sentenced to 30 years in prison and not eligible for parole until 2028, the mother of four has always maintained her innocence.

In the wake of the pardon, which does not quash her conviction but frees her from jail, Mr Tipple argued she should “absolutely” fight to clear her name, comparing her case with the Chamberlains.

“When Lindy was offered her pardon, I said, ‘That’s not enough. You really need an acquittal. You need to have that conviction quashed and actually be declared an innocent person again,’ and that’s what should happen to Kathleen now,” he said on A Current Affair.

In 1982, Lindy Chamberlain was found guilty of the murder of her daughter Azaria while on a family holiday to Uluru, something she continually denied.

She was issued a pardon by the NT Government in 1987 after a royal commission into the event, with Justice Trevor Morling supporting the view that the baby girl had been taken by a dingo.

The Supreme Court of Darwin later quashed all convictions and declared her totally innocent.

Mr Tipple said there was a strong case for Ms Folbigg to receive compensation for her time spent in jail, declaring she should never have been there in the first place.

“The sad thing is all she can get is money, how do you pay someone for 20 years?” he said.

“And also, I think we need to reflect on an injustice just doesn’t affect Kathleen.

“I feel tonight very much for her husband and the father of those children and the injustice that just affects so many people, so many lives.

“I feel very, very badly for him tonight and I just think of the whole process of just how harmful it is to them and to our society and our confidence in the whole judicial system.”

Ms Folbigg’s pardon comes on the back of an inquiry headed by former NSW chief justice Tom Bathurst KC, who heard that new scientific evidence cast doubt over her guilt.

Mr Bathurst had reached “a firm view that there was reasonable doubt as to the guilt of Ms Folbigg for each of the offences for which she was originally tried”,

NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley announced the pardon on Monday morning, minutes after Ms Folbigg left prison in Grafton in northern NSW.

“The evidence put forward to Mr Bathurst was voluminous,” Mr Daley said.

“This morning at 9.30am I met with the governor. I recommended that the governor should exercise the royal prerogative of mercy and grant Ms Folbigg an unconditional pardon,” he said.

A 2021 scientific report suggested at least two of the babies, Laura and Sarah, died from a rare genetic variant known as CALM2 G114R – believed to be linked to long QT syndrome, a heart-signalling disorder that can cause fast, chaotic heartbeats or arrhythmias.

This genetic mutation was not discovered by medical scientists until years after the deaths and would not have been investigated at the time, the inquiry was told.

The girls might have carried the fatal genetic mutation, or could have been affected by other conditions, Mr Bathurst found.

Mr Bathurst said he was “unable to accept … the proposition that Ms Folbigg was anything but a caring mother for her children”.