A Current Affair: Aug 9

On Monday’s A Current Affair reporter Alexis Daish speaks exclusively with Rodney Higgins, the magistrate who was  engaged to a woman 45 years his junior.

Higgins was 68 years old when he embarked on a volatile relationship with Ashleigh Petrie, a 23-year-old court clerk. After just six months together, the couple were engaged.

Their relationship was splashed all over the tabloid news outlets amid questions about the multi-generational age gap and allegations of inappropriate relationships within the Magistrates’ Court. Within weeks of their relationship becoming public, Ashleigh tragically took her life.

Even though Ashleigh had bequeathed her superannuation and life insurance to her mother, Rest Superannuation decided her $180,000 death benefit should go to Higgins. On Monday night, Higgins reveals what led to that ruling and what he thinks should happen with his late fiancé’s superannuation payout.

What makes this story even more extraordinary is that Higgins earned $324,000 a year as a magistrate before he retired last month. Ashleigh’s mother reportedly has very little. To add insult to injury, within months of Ashleigh’s untimely death, Higgins returned to live with his former partner of 18 years who he’d left to be with Ashleigh.

In this exclusive interview, Higgins says he felt ‘frozen out’ by Ashleigh’s family, and reveals why this bitter fight for her superannuation has dragged out for so long.

Now, for the very first time, Higgins breaks his silence.

7.00pm Monday on Nine.