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Mallard to be exonerated today
October 11, 2006

ANDREW Mallard is today expected to be officially cleared of murdering Perth jeweller Pamela Lawrence, a crime for which he spent 11 years in jail.

Mr Mallard, who was jailed over the death of Mrs Lawrence in 1995, will today be publicly exonerated for the crime.

WA Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan is expected to exonerate Mallard, who has always professed his innocence, following a review of the case.

The review has established that British tourist Simon Rochford was responsible for the murder, News Ltd reports.

Rochford committed suicide in Albany prison in May after being questioned by the review team.
He was serving life for the murder of his girlfriend Brigitta Dickens. 

Mr Mallard was convicted in 1995 despite maintaining he did not kill Ms Lawrence by hitting her with a heavy instrument that has never been found.

After a series of appeals failed, the High Court finally quashed his conviction in November last year and ordered a retrial.

Mr Mallard remained in Casuarina Prison until February 20 this year, while WA Director of Public Prosecutions Robert Cock considered whether to retry the matter.

Five police officers involved in the original investigation of Mallard were stood down during the review.

Mallard misery worth millions

NAME CLEARED: Perth man Andrew Mallard, seen here leaving Casuarina Prisonl with his mother is to be exonerated today for a murder he did not commit.

Adam Gartrell and Liza Kappelle, AAP - October 11, 2006

ANDREW MALLARD will seek millions of dollars in compensation after being officially cleared of a murder that he spent 12 years in prison for.

Former lawyer and Labor MP John Quigley, who helped clear Mr Mallard's name, said the vindicated man would be seeking "millions''.

WA Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan announced today that a cold-case review cleared Mr Mallard, 43, of bludgeoning Pamela Lawrence to death in her exclusive Mosman Park jewellery store in 1994.

Mr Mallard was jailed for the killing in 1995.

But police began reviewing the case again after the High Court last year quashed his conviction following years of appeals.

Mr O'Callaghan said the review had cleared Mr Mallard and Ms Lawrence's husband Peter, who was also investigated, but implicated Simon Rochford who killed himself in jail this year after he was publicly linked to the murder.

Rochford, 38, from Huddersfield in Yorkshire, was serving a life sentence for bludgeoning his girlfriend Brigitta Dickens to death at a Scarborough hostel in 1994.

"The investigation has identified sufficient evidence implicating Simon Rochford in the murder of Mrs Lawrence such that, were Mr Rochford alive today, a brief of evidence would be prepared for submission to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for consideration,'' Commissioner O'Callaghan said.

He apologised to Mr Mallard for "the role of the WA Police, as part of the criminal justice system that incarcerated him''.

"I don't think there could be anything more terrible than a person spending time in prison for an offence they didn't commit,'' Mr O'Callaghan told ABC radio.

Mr Mallard's sister Jacqui said the family was overwhelmed by the apology.

"It is fantastic for Andrew, he can move on now he can get on with his life,'' she said.

Ms Mallard said she believed her brother was entitled to compensation.

"I don't know how you compensate someone for taking away 12 years of your life, but I hope the government will make a very good attempt at doing that.''

Former lawyer and Labor MP John Quigley, who helped clear Mr Mallard's name, said the vindicated man would be seeking ``millions (of dollars), not hundreds of thousands''.

WA Attorney-General Jim McGinty said he was sympathetic to Mr Mallard's cause.

"Twelve years in prison for an offence that he never committed is a shocking situation, we will need to take that into account.''

But he said compensation could not be paid until a Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) examination decided whether there had been any wrongdoing or corruption by public officers investigating and prosecuting the case.

CCC public hearings into the matter are expected in the first half of 2007.

Mr Mallard's mother Grace said she was thankful for the police apology but issued this warning: "People should be concerned, the public should be concerned. This is your state, you need a good police force with people you can trust and at the moment it's very seriously dented.''

The High Court quashed Mr Mallard's conviction last November and ordered a retrial.

But he remained in prison until February this year when the DPP decided not to retry him because key 1994 police interviews might not be admissible because they were not video recorded.

WRONG MAN: After a 12-year fight to clear his name, former prisoner Andrew Mallard has today been offcially cleared of murdering Pamela Lawrence. / News Limited picture
Dying for a fix

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