DPP ‘has not made call’ on Gerard Baden-Clay appeal

ATTORNEY-General insists Queensland’s top prosecutor is yet to decide whether to appeal the downgrading of Gerard Baden-Clay’s murder conviction.

***FILE*** A supplied undated image of Gerard Baden-Clay. The image was presented as evidence on Tuesday, June 17, 2014, in the trial of Gerard Baden-Clay. Gerard Baden-Clay's murder conviction for the death of his wife Allison has been set aside on appeal and a conviction of manslaughter substituted. (AAP Image/Queensland Courts) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

ATTORNEY-General Yvette D’Ath insists the state’s top prosecutor is yet to make a final decision about whether to appeal the downgrading of Gerard Baden-Clay’s murder conviction.

The Courier-Mail yesterday revealed Queensland’s Director of Public Prosecutions, Michael Byrne, QC, had privately told the Government of his plans to pursue an appeal in the new year.

The state has until January 5 to lodge an appeal.

Baden-Clay was last year sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering his wife, and the mother of his three children, Allison Baden-Clay.

But Queensland’s Court of Appeal earlier this month downgraded his conviction to manslaughter, delivering another blow to an already grieving family and outraging many Queenslanders.

Ms D’Ath yesterday said: “The office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is still considering the matter and I will make no further comment at this time.”

Gerard Baden-Clay. Picture: AAP Image/Queensland Courts

Allison Baden-Clay.

The Queensland Court of Appeal’s bombshell backflip on Gerard Baden-Clay’s murder conviction was a slap in the face to victims of domestic violence according to family violence experts, support workers, and Allison Baden Clay’s own family.

The ruling prompted community outrage and scathing critiques on the state’s justice system, but no one is more disgusted than relatives of the Brisbane mum-of-two.

“I think the legal system that we are working with today fails a lot of women and children who are being killed and living in domestic and family violence,” Allison’s cousin told the Nine Network.

“I think that really causes a lot of people who don’t or are not educated in domestic and family violence to not understand what is actually going on behind closed doors.”