Saving Andrew Mallard - screening on ABC TV 8.30pm, Thursday 4 May

Saving Andrew Mallard is the remarkable true story of a small team of people who for over a decade, fight to quash the murder conviction of Andrew Mallard and in February 2006, eventually see him set free.

Andrew Mallard was living in the neighbourhood of murdered Perth woman Pamela Lawrence. With no money, low self-esteem and suffering from a bi-polar disorder, he was passing himself off as an undercover cop and smoking marijuana obtained from the proceeds of petty theft.

After the murder the police brought Andrew in for a total of 12 hours of questioning and claim he confessed. Something Andrew has always denied. He was successfully prosecuted on the strength of this so-called ‘confession’ – handwritten notes in detectives’ notepads, plus a bizarre 20-minute interview in which Andrew often gives a third-person “theory” about how the crime may have been committed. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for wilful murder.

Andrew’s family and friends work tirelessly to clear his name and get him released. When his heartbroken father Roy dies of cancer, it is left to his ageing mother Grace and feisty sister Jacqui to continue the rescue effort. Along the way they enlist a colourful array of supporters; investigative journalist Colleen Egan, maverick MP John Quigley and QC Malcolm McCusker, all of whom work unpaid to try and prove Andrew’s innocence.

Piece by piece, the defence team expose cracks in the original prosecution’s case. They discover evidence was not disclosed by both police and the Western Australian Director of Public Prosecutions at Andrew’s trial and witness statements were changed. Finally an appeal at the Supreme Court of Western Australia is allowed. With what Andrew’s support team considers to be a convincing case, they are shattered when the appeal fails.

The emotional roller coaster takes a terrible toll on Grace and Jacqui as their hopes are raised and dashed. Andrew meanwhile, writes and ‘speaks’ frankly from prison. Over the decade of incarceration, his commentary reveals a person transforming in maturity from a ‘drop-out’ to someone he hopes his beloved father ‘would be proud of’.

The tenacious support team push on undeterred, demonstrating an unflinching resolve to see justice eventually done.
The case finally reaches the High Court of Australia in Canberra, far away from Perth and 11 years later, in a unanimous decision, the Judges quash Andrew’s conviction and order a retrial because of undisclosed evidence and the fact Andrew did not have a fair trial.

Three months later, Andrew’s charges are dropped by the Western Australian Director of Prosecutions when he announces that there is insufficient evidence to secure a conviction at a retrial, and Andrew finally walks free.
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FURTHER INFORMATION:
Western Australia’s Corruption and Crimes Commission is currently investigating the conduct of the investigating officers and prosecutors involved in Andrew Mallard’s case.