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LONDON - Multiple murderer David Bain's last-ditch Privy Council bid for freedom had the fairest hearing of all his trials and "will probably" see him freed, his supporters said yesterday.
Bain, convicted of murdering five members of his Dunedin family in 1995, was the subject of what his counsel, Michael Reed QC, called a "ding-dong" battle on the final day.
Mr Reed and the Crown's general counsel, John Pike, slugged it out over the issues of bloody footprints, a stray glasses lens, a pair of opera gloves and fingerprints on the murder weapon.
The decision from the Law Lords is not expected for several weeks.
Mr Pike said "chaos" buried a lens under skating boots as Bain murdered his brother, Stephen, in a struggle.
He argued defence evidence showing bloody footprints were those of Bain's father, Robin, was inconclusive.
It backed his view that "no science is precise enough in this case to show the trial was so clearly wrong".
Mr Pike said although the defence had accused Robin Bain of being the murderer before shooting himself, his behaviour had been normal on the morning of the murders, while David Bain's had not been.
Four witnesses reported seeing him behaving unusually, rushing his paper round before coming home to murder Robin Bain, as the Crown contended in the initial trial.
Bloody opera gloves found in Stephen Bain's bedroom were too big for Robin Bain to have worn during the murders and his fingerprints were not on the murder weapon.
Mr Reed said the Court of Appeal had heard only some affidavits from the "highly contested" 53 available.
He said the gloves were elastic and could be worn by anyone, the lens was dusty and hidden, the gun had unidentified fingerprints on it, and Robin Bain had been depressed and behaving oddly before the murders, according to an educational psychologist.
Mr Reed said Robin Bain's motive was clearer because he was in an incestuous relationship and, as a result, was likely to lose his marriage, career and freedom if found out.
The case was a "clear miscarriage of justice" and "the conviction must be quashed", he said.
Bain supporter, Joe Karam said: "This was the fairest hearing David has had yet. At the very least the evidence of an unfair trial [in New Zealand] was pretty overwhelming."
The decision from the Law Lords is not expected for several weeks.
- NZPA
