Date of Incident: 1993
Date of Conviction: 12-04-1993
Exoneration Date: 12-04-2006
Charge: Deprivation of liberty, Sexual assault.
Conviction: Deprivation of liberty, Sexual assault.
Sentence: 5 years
Sentence Served: 19 Months
Contributing Causes: Prosecution non disclosure
Compensation: Yes
Mr Vncent Narkle was convicted by a jury in the Supreme Court of Western Australia in 1993, of one count of unlawful deprivation of liberty and one count of unlawful sexual penetration.
Following representations by Mr Narkle, Armadale MLA Alannah MacTiernan began investigating in 1993 and eventually made an official complaint on behalf of Mr Narkle in 1998.
Investigations by police and then the Ombudsman followed, until, in 2004, material evidence, not previously available or disclosed to Mr Narkle, was discovered through a court hearing.
This revealed that, contrary to evidence presented at the original trial, the complainant had been shown a series of photos and had identified Mr Narkle as a suspect almost a month prior to the date of the formal identification, which was conducted according to police procedures.
In light of this fresh evidence, Mrs MacTiernan approached the Attorney General who then referred a petition for mercy from Mr Narkle to the Court of Criminal Appeal. In the Court of Appeal Mr Narkle contended that had this evidence been available the complainant would have been cross-examined in respect of it, as would have the two police officers.
Mr Narkle successfully argued that had this information been disclosed at the time of the original trial there would have been a significant possibility that, in the light of all the admissible evidence, a jury would have acquitted him.
The judges hearing the appeal accepted the arguments. “…the non-disclosure has led to a miscarriage of justice, in that the appellant has, as a result of it, lost a fair chance of acquittal. We consequently allowed the appeal and ordered that the convictions be set aside and that, in lieu, there be a judgment of acquittal in respect of each charge. There should be no re- trial.”
On April 12, 2006 the court overturned Mr Narkle’s convictions with the help of Mr Tom Percy QC who argued his appeal and had worked on his case for two years without any legal aid or fees.
