Ex-Renewal SA boss John Hanlon’s lawyers say new ICAC charges will also fail

New ICAC charges against an ex-senior public servant are doomed, his lawyers say, as prosecution details about a trip to Germany are revealed for the first time.

New charges laid against former Renewal SA chief executive officer John Hanlon are “foredoomed to failure” because the prosecution still cannot prove he did not work during a trip to Germany, according to his legal team.

In a move to permanently stay the new charges, top silk David Edwardson QC will argue the District Court action is an abuse of process because there is no new evidence to justify re-laying the charges.

It will be argued the three fresh charges are constructed using exactly the same evidence a senior prosecutor conceded could not sustain the original charges – which resulted in them being sensationally dropped in Adelaide Magistrates Court.

Former head of Renewal SA John Hanlon leaves the Adelaide Magistrates Court after a court appearance. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

In a major blow to the state’s ICAC in June, Mr Hanlon was found to have no case to answer on any of the 11 charges he was facing after the prosecution conceded the evidence gathered by investigators was incapable of proving the essential element of the allegations – that he did not work while on an overseas trip.

But in a rare legal manoeuvre, after reviewing the case, the Director of Public Prosecutions in September lodged an ex officio indictment in the District Court reigniting three of the charges that relate to a trip Mr Hanlon took to Germany in 2017.

ICAC investigators allege the trip was for personal reasons related to the birth of his grandchild, but Mr Hanlon contends he conducted work related to Renewal SA projects while in Berlin.

The move for a permanent stay or dismissal of the new charges will take place when Mr Hanlon is arraigned on the three new charges in the District Court on Thursday.

It is understood Mr Hanlon’s lawyers will state the case against him is “foredoomed for failure” because the evidence gathered by ICAC investigators does not account for every “movement or utterance” of Mr Hanlon while in Berlin.

They are expected to argue the evidence gathered is “incapable of rebutting” the explanations Mr Hanlon has provided for his travel and how it related to Renewal SA.

It is understood they will also argue the evidence, as conceded by the prosecution in Adelaide Magistrates Court, is still “incapable of establishing that Mr Hanlon did no work at all” in relation to Renewal SA while on the trip.

The ex officio indictment lodged in the District Court charges Mr Hanlon with one count of abuse of public office and two counts of dishonestly dealing with documents.

The three charges allege he abused his position to obtain a benefit for himself, that he allegedly falsified a foreign currency reconciliation claim and a travel plan relating to the Berlin trip in September 2017.

A prosecution case statement obtained by The Advertiser reveals ICAC investigators suspect the trip to Berlin by Mr Hanlon, between September 20 and September 30, 2017, was scheduled to coincide with the birth of a grandchild.

“While in Germany, the accused met up with his wife, Jeanette Hanlon, and his daughter and stayed with them in accommodation funded by him in Berlin,” it states.

“The accused has a second daughter who resided in Berlin. At the time of the accused travelling to Germany, his second daughter was heavily pregnant and subsequently gave birth to a child while the accused was staying in Berlin.”

Originally published as Ex-Renewal SA boss John Hanlon’s lawyers say new ICAC charges will also fail