Children of slain informer Terence Hodson and wife Christine sue police for not protecting parents
THE children of slain police informer Terence Hodson and his wife, Christine, are suing Victoria Police over their parents’ unsolved murders, saying they were not properly protected.
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THE children of slain police informer Terence Hodson and his wife Christine are suing Victoria Police over their parents’ unsolved murders.
The pair were shot in the back room of their East Kew home in May 2004 when Terence was preparing to give evidence against allegedly corrupt police.
Daughter Mandy Hodson, who has joined her brother Andrew in the civil action, told the Herald Sun her parents should have been given greater protection by the law.
“They should be alive. That’s what we’re fighting for. It’s unacceptable,” Ms Hodson said.
Former detective Paul Dale and hitman Rodney Collins were charged with murdering Terence Hodson in 2009, while Collins was also charged with murdering Mrs Hodson.
But the case against both men collapsed after the fatal prison bashing of drug kingpin Carl Williams, who told police he, along with Collins and Dale, organised Hodson’s murder.
Law firm Robinson Gill this month lodged a writ on behalf of the siblings, accusing Victoria Police of breaching its duty of care to Andrew and Mandy by failing to protect their parents.
Andrew and Mandy’s sister, Nicola Komiazyk, has chosen not to join the claim.
The three discovered their dead parents lying facedown in the fortified Harp Rd home.
A coronial inquest last year heard the Hodsons were killed after Terence agreed to testify against Dale and then detective David Miechel following an attempted burglary.
Mandy said the “severity” of what her informer father was about to undertake was misunderstood by police.
“They weren’t everyday criminals. He was going to expose the other side of the law.
“No amount of OMO is going to get the stain out of that one,” she said.
The inquest also heard Terence Hodson declined to go into witness protection, entrusting their safety to a beefed up home security system that ultimately failed them.
While it’s not known how much compensation is sought the minimum threshold is $50,000.
Robinson Gill principal Jeremy King said the writ was filed to preserve the legal claim, which is running close to its 12-year expiration date.