Gary Jubelin: Ex-William Tyrrell detective loses appeal
Former homicide detective Gary Jubelin has lost his appeal over a $10,000 fine for illegally recording conversations with a person of interest in the William Tyrrell investigation. The former top cop has previously said he would rather go to jail than pay the fine.
Police & Courts
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A former deputy police commissioner has slammed a magistrate for “disappointing bias” and “a total lack of understanding” of major crime investigation following the conviction of ex-detective Gary Jubelin, court documents reveal.
The scathing assessment of the judicial officer was contained in an affidavit from decorated ex-cop Nick Kaldas which was filed in an appeal by retired homicide detective Gary Jubelin.
Mr Jubelin, who retired after 34 years in the police force last year, lost an appeal against his conviction on Friday for illegally recording four conversations during the William Tyrrell investigation.
The 57-year-old had claimed he made the recordings with person of interest Paul Savage in 2017 and 2018 to protect his lawful interest.
That included in case Mr Savage, who lived across the road from where three-year-old William vanished in 2014, made false accusations against him.
Mr Savage has not been charged over William’s disappearance and strongly denies any involvement.
When three of the four recordings were made, there were either telephone intercept or listening device warrants in place but they did not cover the use of Jubelin’s phone.
Judge Antony Townsend found Jubelin‘s self-made recordings weren’t justified.
“It could not be said that in the present circumstances it was reasonably necessary to record conversations without a warrant,” he said in a judgement on Friday.
The recordings were made at least to produce further lines of inquiry, the judge said.
One of the grounds for appeal was that the magistrate wasn’t qualified to pass judgment on an investigation as complex as the Tyrrell investigation.
However, Judge Townsend rejected that submission as the investigation was part of Jubelin’s defence.
The appeal against Jubelin’s conviction and $10,000 fine was dismissed.
Jubelin said on Friday he “would rather go to jail than pay the fine”.
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Asked whether he would actually pay following the district court decision, Jubelin said he’d talk to his lawyers.
“The court said that I went too hard to find out what happened to William Tyrrell,” he said.
“I couldn’t live with myself if I did anything less and I stand by what I did.”
In February, following an explosive two week local court hearing that was as much about the intricacies of the Tyrrell investigation as it was about the charges, Jubelin was convicted of four breaches of the Surveillance Devices Act.
His plight has drawn support from high-profile barristers and retired police, including former NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldas.
In convicting Jubelin in April, Magistrate Ross Hudson was blistering in his assessment of Jubelin’s investigative techniques on the Tyrrell case.
Mr Kaldas, who was a police officer for 35 years before taking up an investigation role with the United Nations, said never in his career had he seen comments about an investigation like those made by the magistrate.
“They demonstrate a total lack of understanding of investigative methodology, practice and procedure,” he wrote in an affidavit tendered during Jubelin’s appeal.
“...and are totally removed from the reality of major crime investigations. Worse, in my view as an investigator, they betray a disappointing bias not based on any apparent facts.”
Jubelin was also accused of pursuing Savage at all costs, in the face of DNA, fingerprint, traces or witnesses.
Mr Kaldas, who was the target of an illegal police bugging operation in the late 90s and early 2000s, argued that if an investigator had that material, the suspect would be charged.
“It is a ludicrous statement to make, rarely do these elements appear collectively,” he wrote.
“I am of the view that Mr Jubelin could have continued in the NSW Police but for these charges.
“It is also my view that he...could have risen to a much higher rank than Inspector.”
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Mr Jubelin was removed from the Tyrrell investigation in early 2019 and banned from the Homicide Squad office while he was the subject of an internal police investigation.
He then quit the force but a couple of months later, was charged with the illegal phone recordings. He pleaded not guilty.
Judge Townsend said on Friday that Jubelin could have applied for a warrant to use body worn wire to record the interactions instead.
As a senior police officer, Jubelin was well aware of his legal obligations, he said.