Pride of Australia 2018: Mark and Faye Leveson’s fight for justice for their son Matt
NOT for one moment since their son Matt disappeared in 2007 did Mark and Faye Leveson surrender their search or the pursuit of justice. Their extraordinary efforts drove a police cold case investigation and later an inquest into Matt’s death.
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- Matt Leveson’s parents slam son’s ‘cold’ ex-lover Michael Atkins
- Michael Atkins ‘gets off scot-free’ after coroner couldn’t determine the cause of Matt Leveson’s death
NOT for one moment since their son Matt disappeared in September 2007 did Mark and Faye Leveson surrender their search or the pursuit of justice.
Their extraordinary efforts drove a police cold case reinvestigation and later an inquest into Matt’s death.
As a result, Matt’s former lover, Michael Atkins, 55, led police to Matt’s lonely grave in the Royal National Park south of Sydney where he said he buried the 20-year-old after he allegedly died of a drug overdose.
Atkins remains free after he was acquitted in 2009 of Matt’s murder and given immunity from prosecution.
The assistance they gave to detectives, including wearing a listening device to talk to Atkins, led the coroner to recommend they receive an official police commendation.
“By looking, we weren’t sitting around doing nothing. If we’d sat back, Matty would still be out there,” Faye Leveson said.
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The couple were awarded a Pride of Australia medal today.
Accepting the award, Ms Leveson said: “The first time I did the wire, I vomited.
“We’ve got 18th century laws, things have to change.
“I just worked on a m other’s instinct, I couldn’t sit down and do nothing.”
The Pride of Australia awards honour ordinary Australians thrust by fate into life and death situations, police officers, volunteer firefighters, children who have displayed courage beyond their years, those who have raised untold thousands for charity and selfless individuals who have spent their lives in the service of others and the protection of animals.
Inspired by the Liberty Medal established by the New York Post in the wake of the September 11 attacks, Pride of Australia, championed by the Daily Telegraph, underpins the notion there is no greater measure of a society’s strength than its ability to recognise, learn from and reward its true heroes.
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