Killed girl’s family seeks A-G briefing

The family of Cheryl Grimmer, killed in 1970, want a full briefing on the collapse of the case.

Cheryl Grimmer, who vanished aged 3 in 1970.

The family of Cheryl Grimmer, suspected to have been abducted and murdered as a three-year-old in 1970, will this week ask for a full briefing on advice provided to NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman on the shock collapse of a prosecution in the case.

Cheryl’s older brother, Ricki Nash, will ask for a meeting with Mr Speakman as he accused the justice system of riding roughshod over victims. It comes as the family also seeks to arrange a walk and a memorial for Cheryl at Fairy Meadow beach in Wollongong, where she vanished, for next year’s 50th anniversary of her ­disappearance.

A man accused of the abduction and murder, who cannot be named because he was 15 at the time, was scheduled to face trial in the NSW Supreme Court this month. However, in February a judge ruled his detailed 1971 confession to the crime was inadmissible, and the charge was dropped. “We’ve been told nothing since the day of the court judgment,” Mr Nash said. “It’s like a decision has been made — that’s it, that’s all you get, there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Cheryl’s accused killer was 17 when he confessed to the murder to two NSW detectives.

Police at the time considered that they did not have enough ­evidence to charge him, but a re­investigation launched by NSW detectives in 2016 led to him being charged. The confession was legally taken and freely given, but laws were later introduced re­quiring a parent, other adult or lawyer to be present for child confessions to be admissible in court. Judge Robert Allan Hulme ruled in February that the newer laws, as they related to police procedure, applied retrospectively.

These laws ruled out the confession by default, unless there was a proper reason for the adult’s absence and that in the “particular circumstances of the case” it should be admitted. Detectives had a proper reason in that an adult was not required at the time and they could not predict the future, Justice Hulme said.

But he decided to exclude the confession, noting the technique of the police interview — a caution was issued as soon as the teenager started making admissions, but not before — and the “particular vulnerability” of the accused.

Prosecutors advised the court within hours that they would not be appealing against the decision, Cheryl’s family said. The murder charge was dropped immediately and the man was released after almost two years in custody.

Mr Speakman sought advice from Crown Advocate David Kell SC after NSW Director of Public Prosecutions Lloyd Babb SC confirmed he would not appeal.

Mr Speakman revealed in The Weekend Australian that he had received Dr Kell’s advice and was “now considering” it. Mr Nash, who wants all the ­evidence to go to a jury, said the family had not been told what ­options Mr Speakman had. “I want to know why the legal system hasn’t done anything for the victims, for the family,” he said.

Mr Nash met an officer from Wollongong City Council on ­Friday to discuss his hopes for a memorial for Cheryl for January 12, the anniversary of her dis­appearance. “It will give us a place to go each year to pay our respects,” he said.

“We want something that has a positive message.”