Adelaide man Henry Keogh receives $2.57m for wrongful murder conviction

WRONGFULLY convicted murderer Henry Keogh, who spent 21 years in jail, has received a $2.57 million taxpayer-funded payout from the State Government, sparking outrage from the family of his former fiancee.

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WRONGFULLY convicted murderer Henry Keogh, who spent 21 years in jail, has received a $2.57 million taxpayer-funded payout from the State Government, sparking outrage from the family of his former fiancee.

Mr Keogh and Attorney-General Vickie Chapman agreed to the deal on Friday, 959 days after the Director of Public Prosecutions dropped a murder charge against him over the 1994 death of Anna-Jane Cheney.

He was released from prison 11 months earlier, in December 2014, when his conviction for drowning Ms Cheney in the bath was quashed by the Court of Criminal Appeal.

In a statement from Adelaide lawyer Greg Griffin, issued exclusively to The Advertiser, the Cheney family reacted with fury that compensation had been granted to Mr Keogh.

The family said it would take “legal advice on the options available to pursue Keogh for the matters arising from the death of Anna-Jane”.

Henry Keogh speaks to the media outside of the old Supreme Court. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

“The Cheney family were stunned to learn that the Marshall government has decided within the first 100 days of taking office to pay Henry Keogh $2.5m,” the statement said.

The family said it had “serious concerns” about allowing Ms Chapman to oversee the compensation process, saying she was a “long-time supporter” of Mr Keogh.

“Evidence of (Ms Chapman’s) support of Keogh is readily available, such as her advocating for Keogh’s release in the South Australian Parliament in May 2005,” the statement said.

“Any application by Keogh for compensation should have been allowed to take its proper course through the court system or, at the very minimum been investigated by an independent authority instead of the Crown Solicitors Office.”

Anna Jane Cheney

Mr Keogh said he and his family went through a lot of “torture and anguish for nothing”.

“It (the compensation) means I’ve got some financial security for me and the family and we can put this sorry chapter behind us,” he told Seven News.

Ms Chapman said paying Mr Keogh the $2.57 million sum was the “most appropriate” course of action to mitigate further financial risks to the state.

Mr Keogh spent 21 years in jail after he was convicted in 1995 of drowning Ms Cheney in the bath of her Magill home.

His conviction was quashed by the Court of Criminal Appeal in December 2014 after it found the prosecution had relied on flawed forensic evidence.

Mr Keogh’s supporter and legal reform activist Dr Bob Moles said the compensation arrangement was an “acknowledgment some wrong has been done and restitution is warranted”.

Dr Moles said the payout was welcome, despite it being “modest” compared to the $3.25 million paid to West Australian Andrew Mallard — who spent 12 years in prison.

Ms Chapman said there was “no winner” in Mr Keogh receiving compensation.

“There will be some in the community that take the view that this settlement is hardly adequate for a person who has spent 20 years in prison in respect of a conviction that has been quashed,” she said.

“On the other hand there are those in the community who take the view that Mr Keogh should not receive one cent.”

Ms Chapman said the settlement was “not an attempt” to change the minds of South Australians about Mr Keogh’s successful appeal, but was necessary to mitigate financial risks.