Chamberlain out of jail, sentence to be remitted

Press, 8 February 1986, Page 1

Chamberlain out of jail, sentence to be remitted

NZPA-AAP Darwin Lindy Chamberlain was released from Darwin’s Berrimah Jail late yesterday afternoon.

The Northern Territory’s Attorney-General, Mr Marshall Perron, said the life sentence Imposed after her conviction for the murder of her baby daughter, Azaria, would be remitted. A spokesman for the Northern Territory’s Correctional Services Minister, Mr Barry Coulter, said she had been freed at 3.45 p.m. (7.15 p.m. New Zealand time) and had left the prison by car. He had no details of where she planned to go but it was believed she would stay at Darwin last evening. Mrs Chamberlain eluded the news media in the city’s northern suburbs. Mr Perron said the Northern Territory Government would institute an inquiry into the case on advice from the Solicitor-General and the Police Commissioner. He said Mrs Chamberlain’s remission would be subject to the usual conditions of good behaviour but he did not intend her to be taken back into custody regardless of the outcome of the inquiry. Mr Peiron said the decision to hold an Inquiry came after advice from the Solicitor-General and the Police Commissioner on “significant new evidence.”

“They have advised me that the discovery of the baby’s matinee jacket near the base of Ayers

Rock and its subsequent identification by Mrs Chamberlain may have a bearing on the case.” Mr Perron said the terms of reference for the inquiry had not been drawn up and its members had not been decided.

The decision for Mrs Chamberlain’s release was made in the light of her need for unrestricted access to legal advisers to prepare for the inquiry, he said.

Mr Perron approached Mrs Chamberlain’s husband, Michael, before he announced her release. Asked if yesterday’s move discredited the Northern Territory Government or its handling of the case, Mr Perron said, “Not at all.”

He said it would be months before an inquiry could be set up. The Government would consider the introduction of legislation at the March sittings of the Legislative Assembly to enable this. “I would envisage that it would be comprised of a person or persons with an eminent judicial and impeccable’ background.” Mr Perron released a copy of a letter from the Commissioner of Police, Mr Peter McAulay, to the Chief Minister, Mr lan Tuxworth. In the letter, Mr McAulay said a baby’s jacket found at Ayers Rock on Sunday fitted the description of a matinee Jacket described by Mrs

Chamberlain previously. Mr McAulay believed the discovery of the garment and its condition could prove to be significant new evidence in the case. On receiving the letter, Mr Tuxworth wrote to Mr Perron about the

Chamberlain case. He wrote that the matters raised by Mr McAulay suggested the Northern Territory Government needed to consider establishing a judicial inquiry.

“It also seems to me that you, as AttorneyGeneral, will need to consider whether the Northern Territory Government should take action in respect of Mrs Chamberlain’s detention,” Mr Tuxworth wrote. Mr Perron denied thatthe

recent investigations into the case by the Northern Territory’s Opposition leader, Mr Bob Collins, had had any influence on yesterday’s announcement. "I would suggest Mr Collins’s actions probably detracted from the Chamberlain case rather than assisted,” he said. Mr Perron said the Northern 'Territory Government had received no information from Mr Collins about his alleged new findings. A 10-hour excavation by forensic experts at Ayers Rock has failed to uncover any more fresh evidence in the Chamberlain case.