David Bain book axed

Michael Turner says the book is a 'work in progress'. Photo / Supplied

A book on the David Bain case has been canned a month before it was to be published.

The book, by former television journalist Michael Turner, was to have been released on November 24.

But this week, Turner and publisher HarperCollins agreed not to proceed with the project, titled Bain, which Turner describes as a narrative on the Bain case "from go to whoa".

The High Court retrial in which Mr Bain was acquitted on June 5 this year of murdering his parents and three siblings was to be the climax of the book.

Neither Turner nor the publisher was prepared to say what led to the cancellation, but the Weekend Herald understands it came after the manuscript was examined for legal risks.

Turner, who followed the case from its early days, said he was not disappointed by the decision.

He said the book was a "work in progress".

"There will still be a book published. I have some work to complete, and when I do that, I will be presenting it for publication again."

He refused to say whether he was talking to other publishers.

Turner covered the Bain case from the beginning, and is known to hold strong pro-Bain views.

He was at the first trial in 1995 and at the retrial, and says he is in the unique position of "having attended the post-trial celebrations of the police in 1995, and of the Bain supporters in 2009".

Asked if a legal opinion had influenced the decision not to publish, HarperCollins spokeswoman Sandra Noakes said it was standard practice for books based on court cases to be examined by a lawyer.

HarperCollins is planning to publish another book on the Bain case, written by Mr Bain's chief supporter, Joe Karam. It will be Mr Karam's fourth book on the case.

It will not be published until next year, as Mr Karam has only recently started writing it.

Mr Karam was sued unsuccessfully for defamation by police officers over allegations made in his first book on the Bain case.