A high-profile murder trial was relocated more than 200km away due to a Victoria Police policy of waking up those being held in watch houses every hour overnight, which a Supreme Court judge described as “idiotic” and “cruel”.
In a scathing rebuke of Victoria Police published this week, Justice Michael Croucher ordered a murder trial be moved from Shepparton to Melbourne in May this year as he found the three co-accused would not get a fair trial due to the sleep deprivation they were suffering in the police holding cells.
Under a state-wide policy, Victoria Police officers wake up those being held in watch houses overnight every hour to check on their welfare, either by having a torch light shone on them, speaking to them or asking them to move or stand up.
This policy was introduced following incidents involving very different circumstances, and is now applied to anyone being held in these watch houses, the judge found.
“It is idiotic. It is cruel. It is bone-headed,” Croucher said.
“It just should not be happening. Sleep deprivation is a well-known form of torture.
“Those who are responsible for making these policies really need their heads read. They should think again.”
The decision to relocate the murder trial was publicly published this week, following the conclusion of the trial that was ultimately held in Melbourne.
The extreme sleep deprivation experienced by the co-accused due to the police would impact the ability of the co-accused to get a fair trial, it was found.
“There is no need, as far as I can tell, for these accused to be woken every hour, or disturbed in their sleep every hour, because of welfare concerns,” the judge said.
“The consequence of their sleep being interrupted is that they may well appear tired in the dock, which is one thing, and that is bad enough.
“The fact that they are tired makes it harder for them to follow the trial and give instructions meaningfully. Further still, were they to give evidence in their own trial, they would be disadvantaged by being so tired.
“The presumption that usually applies – namely, that a trial should be heard in the region in which the alleged offending occurred – is displaced wholly and solely because of this idiotic policy and the intransigence of Victoria Police in refusing to bend to allow common sense to prevail in order to allow a fair trial to be heard here.”
If the policy remains, it may be impossible to hold any lengthy trials in areas too far away from prisons, where the accused would need to be held by police, despite the recent establishment of a number of new regional court houses.
“What a waste. What a disgrace. Victoria Police should hang their heads in shame. It is disgraceful,” Croucher said.
“The consequence will be that, if this practice is going on throughout the regions, where police act as the gaolers at least during the week at courts in those country areas that are too far from the prisons to allow accused persons to be transported between the courts and prison each day, then it is the end of criminal trials of a substantial duration in those regional courts when the accused are in custody.”
A spokesperson for Victoria Police told About Time that there are “strict policies in place to ensure the safe management of people in policy custody”.
“These processes take into account prisoner welfare and are regularly reviewed to ensure police are supporting the human rights of any detained person,” the spokesperson said.
In handing down the decision that the murder trial would have to be moved, the judge concluded with a message to the police: “Well done you, Victoria Police. Well done.”
