New twist in Whiskey case as cop says she was told to cut parts of report
A police officer has told the inquest into Brisbane’s deadly Whiskey Au Go Go firebombing that she was ordered last year to remove a chunk of her report about the early investigations into the crime.
Detective Sergeant Virginia Gray said she was told to remove everything from the fourth paragraph of her report to about page 27 after meeting her superiors in September 2020.
The cold case homicide officer ā with 27 years of policing experience ā was tasked with investigating the 1973 attack that killed 15 people for the coroner before the inquest.
She made the claims last week, but the section of her testimony was the subject of an suppression order that was lifted on Wednesday.
Det Sgt Gray said Detective Inspector Damien Hansen told her he had spoken to the coroner the previous day and āhis feedback was that that material should be removed ā¦ as they didnāt need references to the early investigationā.
She added there was a discussion involving Detective Senior Sergeant Tara Kentwell in which Gray said she thought it was āa fairly standard thing that early investigative material is in coronial reportsā.
āDetective Senior Sergeant Kentwell asked could we have the material in some other way,ā she added.
You might like
She said Hanson told her he was unhappy with references relating to the original interview on March 11, 1973 with James Richard Finch, who was later convicted over the attack.
āHe was unhappy that there was reference to or insinuation that they were verballed,ā Gray told the inquest.
An emotional Gray said Hanson told her āthat sort of material shouldnāt be included in a report from police ā¦ and that we would leave that to the journalists and police hatersā.
She sent the amended report as instructed, but later resubmitted the full report believing the information was relevant. Both versions were provided to the coronerās office.
Gray said she was āa little bit confused by the instructionā because she had gone into detail in earlier meetings about what was going to be included in the report.
āThere had never been any issue with having early material in or having any references to the interview stuff in so it ā¦ wasnāt consistent,ā she added.
Stay informed, daily
State Coroner Terry Ryan said it was āincorrectā that he had given any direction regarding the content of Grayās report.
āItās not something that I have ever given a direction about in relation to any police report,ā he added.
Finch backflipped on a confession when told he might be charged with a further 14 murder charges, the inquest in Brisbane was told on Wednesday.
Finch claimed his innocence for 15 years while behind bars for one murder, but after being deported to England confessed to being one of three men who carried out the attack.
He seemed āalmost enthusiasticā about wanting to speak out, saying it was ātime to name namesā, former A Current Affair European correspondent Michael Holmes said.
But when presenter Jana Wendt mentioned he could be extradited to Australia and charged with the other deaths it was like āsomething went flashing through his brainā, Mr Holmes said.
āIt was like you saw something in his eyes at that moment,ā Holmes, now a CNN International anchor, told the inquest from Atlanta.
On-air Finch first confirmed the confession, but āas the interview progressed those wheels continued to turn until he ā¦ basically just did a u-turn on everythingā, claiming he had nothing to do with the attack.
Holmes said it was clear āthe backtracking was all an actā that āastounded everyone but fooled no oneā.
Sonya Lewis, who was nine when her mother Decima Carroll died while working at the Whiskey Au Go Go, told the inquest her familyās āwhole world collapsed that dayā.
She said the inquest was a ālong overdue opportunity to uncover the truth about this horrific tragedyā.
āWe are hopeful that the truth will be revealed, that our family will have the closure we have sought for 48 years and that our mother can finally rest in peace at long last,ā sheĀ said in a statement read to the inquest.
Want to see more stories from InDaily Qld in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily Qld as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily Qld". That's it.
