'Catastrophic failure': Cheryl Grimmer family gives Premier deadline

Cheryl Grimmer's family gives premier deadline to review dropped murder case In short: Cheryl Grimmer's family has written to the NSW premier and attorney-general, challenging a decision to discontinue the case against the man once charged with her murder. They argue his 1971 police interview should not have been excluded under child protection laws introduced later, and have called for an independent review. What's next? The family wants a government response by September 29 and says it will seek parliamentary support to obtain records if its call for a review is rejected. Cheryl Grimmer's family has accused the state's top prosecutor of a "catastrophic failure of public accountability" and given the NSW premier an ultimatum to order an independent audit of the 56-year-old cold case. If the government does not respond by September 29, the family says it will ask supportive members of the NSW Legislative Council to seek government records relating to the case. The ultimatum, in a letter sent to Premier Chris Minns and Attorney-General Michael Daley on September 22, follows a decision by director of public prosecutions Sally Dowling to uphold the discontinuation of a murder prosecution. "We refuse to roll over or accept bureaucratic brush-offs," the letter read. Cheryl was three when she disappeared from outside a shower block at Fairy Meadow Beach in Wollongong in January 1970. Her body has never been found. In 1971, a 17-year-old boy told police he had abducted and killed her. Investigators sought evidence to confirm his account but were not satisfied they had enough to charge him. Why was the prosecution dropped? Detectives revisited the interview decades later, and the man, known by the court pseudonym "Mercury", was charged with murder in 2017. He pleaded not guilty. The prosecution was discontinued in 2019 after Justice Robert Hulme ruled the police interview could not be used as evidence. Prosecutors said their case could not succeed without it. Justice Hulme acknowledged there was "no such requirement in 1971" for an adult support person to attend the interview. He found police had a proper reason for the adult's absence, but ruled that a child protection law introduced in 1987 governed whether the interview could be used at the later trial. He excluded it after considering how Mercury was questioned and his vulnerability at the time. The judge separately found it would be unfair to use the interview as evidence under the Evidence Act. Family challenges review Earlier this year, the family secured the review by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and provided 54 submissions. In a determination dated September 16, Ms Dowling upheld the decision to discontinue the case, finding it was not reasonably open to challenge the court's exclusion of the interview. The family says her response failed to address its legal arguments and information about potential witnesses. It also says the DPP did not explain how the public interest in prosecuting Cheryl's case was considered. "In a child homicide, evaluating the public interest requires an explicit balancing of the community's right to an open trial against perceived legal hurdles," its letter says. In a statement on September 17, an ODPP spokesperson said the review considered "the evidence, the law, the trial judge's reasons and detailed submissions made by the family", and concluded the decision to discontinue the prosecution was correct. The spokesperson said the office understood the outcome was "deeply disappointing" for Cheryl's family and acknowledged its pain and grief. Pursuit of justice The family has declined Ms Dowling's offer of a meeting and requested detailed written reasons. It says all communication should be in writing after "the 56-year history of this case". In its letter to Mr Minns, the family calls for a full, independent audit of the case. "We demand that you immediately exercise your executive authority to order a full, independent ministerial audit of this file." The family says it will seek a Standing Order 52 Legislative Council motion to obtain government records if it receives no response by September 29. In a statement, Mr Daley said he understood the family was disappointed with the review's outcome. "The key question considered by the review was the exclusion of the recorded interview. That is a legal question and one which has already been determined by the Supreme Court," he said. Mr Daley said NSW Police was still working to give the family answers and a $1 million reward for information remained on offer. His statement did not address the family's request for an independent examination. Call to 'find a fix' NSW upper house MP Jeremy Buckingham has been advocating for the family and on Thursday attempted to move an amendment to a bill that would clear a path for a prosecution. It would have made all police statements made by children before 1988 exempt from the later rule requiring an adult support person. Treasurer Daniel Mookhey acknowledged the family's "real and unfathomable" pain, but said the change would remove a safeguard in other cases. Mr Buckingham accepted the objections and urged the attorney-general and all other MPs to "find a fix". "There must be a legislative fix that can deal with this issue, we can not have a situation where this stands, where justice is not served."