Four Corners: May 9

‘Callous Disregard’ by Caro Meldrum-Hanna is Monday’s Four Corners story, looking at family’s fight for justice after the brutal death of a young woman.

No names, dates or locations have been supplied in relation to the crime featured.

“What would happen if that was your daughter?” Family Friend

The body of a young woman lies on the beach. Two panic stricken men try to work out what to do. One makes a call to ‘000’, the other goes and flags down help.

“He said there was a girl on the beach and they needed help to resuss her and that she’d drowned in the surf.” Witness

But as people began arriving on the scene it became clear the men had serious questions to answer. The young woman had died of horrendous internal injuries.

“I remember making it quite clear at the time, words to the effect of, ‘something’s dodgy’.” Witness

Five years on, what happened on that beach haunts everyone involved.

“I just I miss her so much and all I want is justice done for that girl.” Mother

Despite a thorough police investigation and a scathing Coronial Inquest recommending charges be laid, no one has ever faced court.

“They tried to explain why they weren’t going to be charging these fellas.” Family Friend

In this searing story, Gold Walkley award-winning reporter Caro Meldrum-Hanna follows the trail of evidence:

“This is a horrific case and the details are spelled out very thoroughly in the Coronial report and the Prosecutor’s response is incomprehensible in the face of all of this evidence.” Academic

And finds a family that won’t give up:

“I’ve got a lot of fight in me… I don’t care how, how I do it, but I’m just going to go on and go until there’s justice done for that girl.” Mother

Monday 9th May at 8.30pm on ABC.