Judith Collins stands by her word in Bain's compensation case

Senior Reporter, Health·NZ Herald·

19 Feb, 2015 04:00 PM3 mins to read

David Bain, who was released from prison in 2009, could receive compensation of up to $2 million. Photo / Simon Baker

Government starts from scratch on Bain’s compensation claim

Former Justice Minister Judith Collins says she "stands by everything I said and did" in relation to David Bain's compensation case after his supporters accused her of derailing the process at a huge cost to the taxpayer.

The Government confirmed yesterday it would start from scratch on the long-running compensation claim, meaning that two previous reports commissioned at a cost of $600,000 would be thrown out.

Justice Minister Amy Adams said Cabinet could not make a robust decision based on those reports, and a new expert would be found to start afresh.

The new inquiry was expected to cost another $400,000, bringing the total cost of the process to more than $1 million.

Mr Bain's advocate Joe Karam said the blame for the new delay and its associated costs could be placed squarely on Mrs Collins, who "secretly" asked for a peer review of an initial inquiry by former Canadian Supreme Court judge Ian Binnie.

"It's a great shame for David, for me, for the New Zealand public in general," he said. "It's extremely disappointing that this should happen from a number of points of view, not least of which is the taxpayers who now have to cough up between half a million and a million dollars."

Mr Karam said he was more confident of a positive outcome from the new review because he believed Ms Adams would be more principled than her predecessor and would not "bulldoze" any findings.

Mrs Collins shot back at Mr Karam yesterday, saying she could never have awarded compensation based on a faulty inquiry.

"I stand by everything I said and did," she told the Herald. "I did exactly what I had to do."

Justice Binnie found that Mr Bain was innocent "on the balance of probabilities", but the peer review by QC Robert Fisher found numerous errors in his findings.

Mrs Collins said the main reason for a delay in the five-year process was the decision by Mr Bain's side to seek a judicial review of the Government's handling of the case.

Ms Adams said starting the process again was "highly regrettable" but she did not blame it on her predecessor.

She said Cabinet did not have reliable information to make a decision which would withstand the close scrutiny that Mr Bain's case attracted.

"I cannot make a decision based on what is in front of us." Mr Bain could receive a payout of at least $2 million, not including pecuniary losses from his time in jail. Mr Bain was convicted of killing five family members in Dunedin in 1995, but was freed from prison after being found not guilty in a retrial in 2009.