Townsville man Terry Irving spent four and a half years behind bars, for an armed bank robbery he didn't commit. A Queensland court has ruled he was the victim of a malicious prosecution and ordered he be paid compensation. Today, he returned to court, but says no amount of money will make up for the pain and injustice he has endured.
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00:00It's been a three-decade pursuit for justice, and one that is still ongoing.
00:08I've been exonerated, I've been vindicated, and I've been violated.
00:14And the state of Queensland refuses to acknowledge their role in this.
00:20Terry Irving was wrongly convicted of an armed bank robbery in Cairns in 1993.
00:26The Indigenous man was acquitted by the High Court after four and a half years in prison,
00:31and the charges against him later dropped entirely.
00:35Mr Irving sued the state government and the investigating police officer.
00:39In 2021, the Court of Appeal found the police officer acted maliciously
00:44when she held him on charges of accessory to armed robbery,
00:48with the intent of obtaining evidence to slap him with the more severe charge.
00:52Today, lawyers argued how much he should receive in compensation from his malicious prosecution.
00:58Thirty-one years since I was incarcerated.
01:03It was something I'd never done. It's taken this long to be vindicated for that.
01:08His barrister said Mr Irving's time in the watch house has had a catastrophic impact on his life.
01:15There was a lot of violence amongst the prisoners.
01:18There was nowhere to sleep. He slept on a plastic mattress on the floor.
01:22But the defendant's lawyers submitted he was only held on the accessory charges for seven days.
01:28What Mr Irving wants more than money, more than anything,
01:32is an apology and acknowledgement from the state government for what he's been through.
01:37His barrister told the court there's been a complete lack of remorse from either of the defendants.
01:42Attorney General Yvette Darth refused to comment on the matter as the case was still before the courts.
01:48No amount of money can make up for the pain, the suffering, the lack of compassion.
01:57Now the wait for the judge's decision, but Mr Irving says he prays and hopes...
02:02It stops with me.