Kevin Borick QC abandons bid to claim part of Henry Keogh’s $2.57m payout

One of two lawyers seeking a share of Henry Keogh’s $2.57m compo payout has dropped out of the case – while the other has been accused of petitioning the murder suspect when he was “vulnerable”.

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A top barrister has abandoned his bid to claim $1.5 million of Henry Keogh’s $2.57 million payout – while a second lawyer has been accused of approaching the murder suspect when he was “vulnerable”.

In a surprise move on Friday, Kevin Borick QC discontinued his claim Keogh owed him a debt for the work done seeking to overturn his murder conviction.

Because of the capitulation, the famed barrister – who sued alongside fellow practitioner Michael Hegarty – is now at risk of having to pay Keogh’s legal costs.

Sam Abbott SC, for Keogh, told the court Mr Hegarty’s claim should be thrown out – and then a decision made about how much the duo owe his client for bringing him back into the court system.

He said Mr Hegarty had approached Keogh at a time when all normal avenues of securing his release from prison had been exhausted.

“When Mr Hegarty and my client met, Keogh was a person of special vulnerability,” he said.

“He was vulnerable because he had been in jail for, at that time, close to a decade seeking to overturn his conviction.

Henry Keogh received a $2.57 million payout from the State Government, which two lawyers attempted to claim part of. One has now ended that bid. Picture: Matt Turner

“And he was vulnerable because he had no money left after two trials and all of his appeals.”

Keogh stood trial twice, and spent 21 years in prison, over the death of Ms Cheney who was found in the bath of her Magill home.

In 2014 he won a retrial on appeal and was released from prison, but prosecutors opted not to pursue him a third time – meaning the allegations remain live and could be reactivated.

In 2018, Keogh received a $2.57 million taxpayer-funded payout from the State Government.

Mr Borick and Mr Hegarty say they are entitled to $1.5 million of that money, claiming Keogh gave a “verbal agreement” he would cover their fees if released.

Keogh, however, says the duo were never his counsel and were mere “volunteers” among the many solicitors, academics and experts who had offered to assist him free of charge.

On Friday, Mr Abbott said there was no record of any professional agreement between his client, Mr Hegarty and Mr Borick.

He said Mr Borick’s decision to abandon his lawsuit further weakened Mr Hegarty’s claim, and it should be immediately dismissed.

He said that, even if there was a legitimate agreement between Keogh and Mr Hegarty, it did not comply with SA law governing “contingency agreements” by lawyers.

“This is not an agreement that’s permitted... a contingency agreement such as this is illegal,” he said.

Mr Abbott said that, as an alternative, any agreement between the men was neither fair nor reasonable, as required by law.

“No court, taking the evidence at its highest, could conclude that this agreement was fair or reasonable,” he said.

Counsel for Mr Hegarty said their client’s claim should continue, and asked for time to file new documents now that Mr Borick was no longer a party to the case.

Judge Katrina Bochner will hand down her decision at a later date.