TV wants Bradley Edwards interview

Channel 7 and Channel 9 are seeking the release of the lengthy police interview recorded in the hours after Bradley Edwards’ 2016 arrest.

Bradley Robert Edwards.

An attempt to secure the public release of the police interview of Claremont murderer Bradley Edwards has drawn staunch oppositi­on from the convicted killer and families of his victims.

Western Australia’s Supreme Court heard a joint application on Monday from the Seven and Nine networks, seeking an order that would allow for the broadcast of the lengthy police interview recorded in the hours after Edwards’ 2016 arrest.

But the families of the women he murdered, along with the woman he raped in Karrakatta cemetery in 1995 and Edwards’ lawyer Paul Yovich, all ­expressed their opposition to the release of the footage.

An edited version of the police interview was part of the prosecution’s marathon case.

Edwards was convicted in September of murdering Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon in 1996 and 1997. He was found not guilty of the 1996 murder of Sarah Spiers after judge Stephen Hall found there was not enough evidence to proving his guilt ­beyond a reasonable doubt.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on December 23.

Jason McLaurin SC, appearing for the networks, argued that the release of the broadcast would not prejudice any appeal by Edwards or any future retrial over the Spiers murder, given the footage contained only Edwards’ denials and had already been covered extensively in print.

Lead prosecutor Carmel Barbagallo said if released the footage could wind up on the likes of A Current Affair, Today Tonight­ or 60 Minutes, and such prog­rams “might not necessarily be a fair and accurate report”.

Judge Jenny Smith will deliver her decision next Monday.