Judge overturns Maggie Kirkpatrick conviction
Victory for former Prisoner actress, today cleared of a sexual assault conviction in court.
- Published by David Knox
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A Victorian County Court judge has overturned a sexual assault conviction laid against actress Maggie Kirkpatrick.
In August the former Prisoner star was found guilty in August of two counts of indecent assault and one charge of committing a gross act with a person under 16. She had been given an 18-month community corrections order, placed on the sex offender register for eight years and was required to complete 100 hours of community service.
Kirkpatrick had always denied the allegations, describing them as “malicious and untrue” when first interviewed by police.
Today Judge Geoffrey Chettle said Kirkpatrick should not have been convicted in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court and dismissed the conviction against her.
“This case is about credibility rather than reliability,” he said.
In 1984, the girl was a patient at a psychiatric hospital where she befriended a woman who also worked on the series, who introduced her to Kirkpatrick.
The judge said it was clear Ms Kirkpatrick was a warm and caring person who had helped young people in the past, which is why she might have decided to invite the girl home.
He found there was sufficient doubt surrounding the case and no independent evidence to prove the allegations. He also found inconsistencies between the complainant’s account of events, and medical records and evidence given by a psychiatrist.
With the quashing of the original allegations, today’s ruling ends a two year saga for Kirkpatrick, a conviction which privately had surprised many in the industry, given it did not conform to any pattern of behaviour.
“I simply want to thank my legal team, my beautiful family and the hundreds of fans and members of the acting fraternity who have stood by me for the last two years,” Kirkpatrick said outside court.
“It’s been rather difficult, but I am very happy with the result.”
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8 Responses
I can’t begin to imagine her legal bill.
Whether the incident happened or not there was clearly insufficient evidence in the first place.
you know what outrageous me with something like this, the Appeal Judge said “she should never have been convicted”.. what the hell, so your telling me the Magistrate who heard this case and is paid $330k per annum made such a huge monumental mistake.. but the Magistrate keeps their job.. if I made a mistake like that in any other job you know what happens.. I am sacked. How many other people are convicted by Magistrates and do not appeal but if they had would be found not guilty. How can anyone have any faith or respect for the Magistrates when they can get something so wrong?
Exactly and how many people would have been guilty but found innocent by this incompetent magistrate sack them
She was so composed leaving the court. If I’d been wrongly accused of something like that, I don’t know if I’d be that polite…
If Kirkpatick “should not have been convicted” then serious questions must be asked of the ‘justice’ system. People should lose their jobs and/or be disciplined, with some possibly facing charges themselves. I doubt if anything will happen though, these cases are a good little earner for the ‘justice’ industry.
mud sticks unfortunately.
Not so sure it will in this case. Most reasonable people could see that this was a pretty wild accusation. Maggie has a long history of good deeds and is very well liked. I think in this case her previous good character will stand up.
@ Dragon Lass….Yep