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SYDNEY - A missing staple from a court document has allowed two murderers found guilty of one of Australia's most brutal killings to appeal against their convictions.
Under a technical loophole, the murderers will argue that an earlier lost appeal was not finalised because the indictment paperwork was never fixed to the court file as required by law.
"It just seems so wrong," said Bev Balding, mother of Janine Balding who was abducted and brutally gang raped and drowned by a group of men on the outskirts of Sydney in 1988.
Balding's killers are serving life sentences, with a judge's recommendation they never to be released.
"How do they know someone has not removed the staple on purpose? You can't rely on the law when it relies on a solitary staple," Bev Balding told reporters on Monday.
The New South Wales (NSW) state government said it was looking at ways to close the technical loophole.
"I understand that closing this loophole through an amendment to the court rules of the supreme court is currently being considered...to avoid it being an issue of discussion in any future case," said NSW acting state premier John Watkins.
- REUTERS
