Update: The King v Patrick Finbar McGarry O’Dea
For those of you not familiar with this case you can find important background here:
Patrick, in his late 60’s, despite his recognised substantive health issues, his CPTSD and struggles as a War Veteran from his time in the Rhodesian Army, his profound deafness having survived driving over four landmines, and his struggles walking owing to his left ankle being fused, and losing his representation just four weeks before his trial, received a sentence of 3 1/2 years, (20 months non parole) which in plain english is the actual sentence if there are no complications whilst incarcerated.
12 months for aiding and abetting the publishing of an account of proceedings naming a party to proceedings (Family Law Act 1975, Section 121) and 2 1/2 years for aiding and abetting the using of a carriage service that in all the circumstances a reasonable person would find offensive (Commonwealth Criminal Code 474.17).
As Patrick is a Permanent Resident, a sentence of 12 months or greater has the further complication, if not successfully appealed, of almost certainly resulting in deportation. Meaning after 20 months he would be moved to immigration detention for an undetermined amount of time before eventually being deported.
He was taken into custody after sentencing early on the evening of Tuesday 3rd of September 2024.
He spoke amazingly well and did his absolute best in what I would consider a near insurmountable and grossly unfair situation, a situation that should not exist in what we are told here in Australia is an open and just democratic society. Many of us watching who knew him well, were incredibly moved by how well he presented and read his draft oral submissions that we worked on together for hours, and how respectful he was throughout the entire process, despite being treated with what appeared to be a complete blatant disregard and total lack of compassion.
As I have mentioned this case has a long history beginning with an AFP campaign claiming around 6 years ago that they had unearthed an international child trafficking syndicate. Time however revealed it was in reality a mother with two children and a grandmother with one child, that never knew each other, that had each tried to protect their children who had disclosed sexual abuse to multiple people on multiple occasions. By way of a very brief summary three people of around 8 in total charged, chose to self represent. The 5 that were represented all either pleaded guilty or in one case was found guilty, however the three remaining who were self represented were all successful in forcing the CDPP to discontinue the child stealing charges, then child harbouring charges and finally the "conspiracy to defeat justice" charges. Patrick was one of these three individuals. Noting that one of these three defendants was assisted by a very skilled junior Barrister to help overturn the conspiracy charges.
Unfortunately as we always knew, Patrick was the last man left standing and it is important to understand that the 6 charges remaining against him alone do not include the 28 that were successfully either discontinued or overturned in one way or another over a near 6 year period against all three of these self represented individuals, thanks largely to the amazing work of one man, Graeme Bell.
Is Graeme a Barrister or Solicitor, no, he is a part time fruit picker and can collector from somewhere near Griffith in NSW.
I was Patricks support person of choice since he lost his Legal Aid Solicitor a few years back (for not doing anything he asked), and I also made application to be a McKenzie Friend after he lost the support of a Barrister four weeks before his trial, however that application was refused and Patrick was also refused my assistance as a support person in the trial. He was left profoundly deaf, with CPTSD with no knowledge of the law and without anyone to assist him.
The original reasons for me not being able to assist Patrick appears to have been because it was alleged that I was part of an international religious militia and associated with Qanon (what ever that means) and that I was disruptive, albeit the court was not able to produce any evidence to support any of these claims, and I was never permitted to speak in response to these accusations.
Interestingly, I was however permitted to watch in the gallery for this trial, and Patrick was graciously permitted on occasion to request a 5 minute break when with his CPTSD, his poor hearing and tinnitus that amplifies with stress, things became too overwhelming for him, and on these occasions my partner and I and a couple of other people who were in part familiar with the case, spoke to him outside the courtroom to try to explain to him what was occurring as he had no idea of what was happening. We also assisted him to collect his thoughts and to try to run his case in what in my view was a clear cut case of disability discrimination, judicial "gaslighting" and at times it appeared reminiscent of things we associate historically with the term "star chamber".
What I witnessed with this case in my view, was and is one of the greatest miscarriages of justice I have ever seen. It is difficult to fathom how someone who called over and over for a re-investigation into the sexual abuse of children, and who clearly intended to protect children, can now be branded a criminal.
What happened in this trial and sentencing doesn’t just affect Patrick, his family and those of you who are his friends, if allowed to stand, this affects every single person in this country and will effectively mean that the word "Justice" has become nothing more than lip service.
The courts often refer to the importance of the administration of justice not falling into disrepute however in my view it just went down a gapping abyss !!!
Here are just a few examples of what I saw.....
Patrick was called a liar in front of the jury by the Judge when it was her who was lying along with the Prosecution and hiding a Family Court order that permitted publication of the names of the children and parties to the proceedings. He was not originally told about this, and when he found out that there was this important exculpatory evidence, he was not even allowed to raise or question on it.
At one point in the proceedings the court was closed for an Under Cover Operative UCO (an AFP police officer posing as a journalist to entrap him, which is apparently legal in this country) to give evidence even though his name and image were all hidden anyway. Patrick was left in a closed court with no gallery, no support of any kind, no ability to hear the proceedings due to his profound deafness, no understanding of what was happening, no understanding of how to object, no ability to object because he couldn’t hear anyway, and then he was unable to even obtain a copy of the transcript because the solicitor for the UCO had to seek clearance from the Attorney General.
We were helpless to assist.
There was another occasion where Patrick had his hand up for ages like a child at school, then when he was eventually permitted to speak he said "Your Honour I can’t hear anything the Prosecution is telling you" to which the Judge replied “it doesn’t matter“. At that time as far as I could tell it was at the end of the proceedings after all the evidence and the prosecution was leading the Judge (because they lost the right to close to the jury) and explaining the law to her so she could instruct the jury on how to work round his case and convict Patrick. The Judge in effect appeared to me to become the Prosecution by proxy.
I guess that pretty much sums it up !!!
On another occasion when the Prosecution dribbled on for hours Patrick put up his hand for what felt like about 30 minutes and was eventually forced to interject to be granted 5 minutes to go and urinate, we all held our breath in the gallery wondering if the Judge might just refuse, because by that point it appeared a distinct possibility.
In my view, this was no Court, this was a Mockery !!!
He was not allowed to question Prosecution witnesses in order to establish their credibility even though there was evidence that they had breached their own service codes of conduct in relation to evidence, or that they had concealed evidence.
A Crime and Misconduct Commission investigation that revealed the QLD Police involved in the case had failed in their duties was not even permitted to be seen by the jury and the Judge and Prosecution worked together and pretended to the jury that no such thing existed.
I have a copy and so did Patrick, actually several copies because we asked the CDPP to print them for Patrick before the trial to save us some money, along with the Family Court Order that apparently was irrelevant but who would know, and the Crime and Misconduct Commission Report and other reports outlining the failures of the Queensland Police with their investigation, or rather their lack of investigation.
One Police Officer when asked if he could provide the affidavit he affirmed to get a warrant to tap Patrick’s phone became really uncomfortable when Patrick on cross examination reading from his list of questions asked for a copy of that affidavit, his eyes started darting left and right and he defensively claimed he needed to get legal advice before Patrick was immediately shut down by the Judge and Prosecution. They clearly didn’t want anyone knowing what they had said to start this entire operation.
Patrick was not even allowed to attempt to disprove the Prosecution case by direct or indirect evidence.
He was told that the jury can just rely on the jury book even though the Prosecutor told the jury they could not rely on the jury book.
He was not permitted to question in relation to the person who he was claimed to have "aided and abetted" because that person was not in evidence, even though it was that very person he was supposed to have had an agreement with and it was certainly in the jury books, the charges, the particulars, and in witness statements.
The Judge when summing up to the jury went from summing up in law to attempting to prove the Prosecution case, and she even instructed the jury on what decisions to come to. It was no longer a jury decision but a judge leading a jury to make the decision she and the Prosecution had already made.
She told the jury how to work around the genuine legal concerns Patrick raised in his closing submission and how to interpret the evidence given by the Prosecution witnesses, she even went so far as to make claims contrary to what the prosecution witnesses actually said. A police officer in Queensland said she couldn't be sure what she saw were the same blog posts in evidence but the Judge just led the jury into believing that was good enough, so much for criminal matter being proved beyond reasonable doubt.
There was mention at one point that she (The Judge) might send someone into the jury room to assist them with some questions of law, as she called it, first I’ve heard of anything like this and we still don't know if anyone was in the jury room with the jury instructing them but it certainly suggested it was a distinct possibility.
It was clear to even to the most ardent of government supporters that not only had the administration of justice fallen into disrepute it was literally hurled into an enormous rabbit hole abyss in order to convict at any price.
All this in my view to cover up Prosecutorial misconduct and Police corruption in order to bury any opposition that could shed light on what resulted in the continued abuse and trafficking of children.
Perhaps it is because Patrick and others started the Australian Anti Pedophile Party, that is a matter for you.
Perhaps it is because one of the persons who the children identified as their abuser is a nephew of a senior politician, that is a matter for you.
Perhaps because we had a witness who heard one of the children identify a very senior politician as their abuser, that is a matter for you.
Perhaps it is because a Family Court Judge in Townsville returned two of the children to their alleged abuser, that is a matter for you.
Perhaps it is because an Independent children's lawyer (ICL) withheld the abuse of the children from the Family Court, or did she ? that is a matter for you.
Perhaps it is because the Family Court used its powers behind closed doors to give children back to the very people they claim abused them, if they infact saw the evidence from the ICL ? that is a matter for you.
Perhaps it is because the Police didn't take any action against the abusers of the children because they do not believe what a child says as being proof beyond reasonable doubt. I guess a four year old will have to make sure they have a witness to testify or perhaps they can bring a video with them to show what happened. Further to this it appeared clear that the police have very limited training in these areas concerning the evidence provided by children, that is also a matter for you.
Perhaps it is because an Emeritus Professor who provided assistance to royal commissions into the systemic failings of child protection had exposed massive systemic failings, that is a matter for you.
Perhaps it is because of the 93 reports by 13 independent court appointed child supervisors (all in evidence) that all substantiated child sexual abuse of the children either disappeared or were ignored by the Family Court, that is a matter for you.
Perhaps it is because they all just have far too much to hide, that is also a matter for you.
However, not withstanding all that, this case raises issues that will in time affect every single person in Australia and abroad.
Gone are the days of a trial before 12 peers, it is now appears to me to be nothing more than a pantomime led by a Judge and Prosecution colluding together like a pack of baboons (woops my apologies thats offensive to baboons) to create the illusion of a democracy whilst at the same time condoning the trafficking and abuse of children with not even the slightest remorse, even worse they were deeply offended that someone dare call a pedophile a pedophile. That I found really interesting as the charge said that a reasonable person must find it offensive in All the circumstances ?
Then to top it all off they still continue to discuss how Patrick and others helped a mother abduct her own children, children that went with her willingly and when we all know Patrick wasn’t even in the same State at the time, and this matter had nothing to do with child abduction, it never did, other than in the media.
Then the final piece of icing on the cake was a discussion about bail after conviction and that Patrick is still apparently affiliated with an international network of people assisting in the abduction of children, like those of us in the gallery and his supporters? So now all of us that have been monitoring this case and some of you reading this blog are also now part of this global cabal of child traffickers.
Well if thats not the pot calling the kettle black, I don’t know what is !!!
We would like to send a big thank you to all who came to fill the gallery and the over 160 testimonials and character references I was able to gather in support of Patrick and to everyone who has and is supporting us all in these most difficult times where people with the intent of protecting children are now branded as criminals and those who commit these crimes against innocent children are protected by the police, the judiciary, the politicians and the media.
I have my own trial from October 14th in the Newcastle District Court in NSW exposing State condoned child trafficking and child abuse so at least I now have a reasonable idea of where that is heading, God help anyone in Australia who has the intention of protecting our children and grandchildren.
I wonder when or if the public is going to wake up, perhaps when it is their child or grandchild or perhaps we should just accept that Australians like to traffic and abuse their children and I am clearly messed up for thinking it’s wrong.
Or perhaps that is what they want me to believe !
Closing on a positive, Truth has a wonderful way of bubbling to the surface and in my view what Patrick has helped to expose will eventually bring about the downfall of this entire affair, it's now just a matter of time because like the great Leonard Cohen song, Everybody Knows.
Let us pray a Bail Application and Appeal is filed soon, Graeme Bell as always did an amazing job and I helped him to finish a draft that was ready the next morning after sentencing, we even secured a great lawyer for Patrick but alas as always with these matters people come in last minute with all kinds of ideas and intentions (in Falun Gong they call it demonic interference) and often disrupt, divide and mislead family members and close others. Those of us who have assisted Patrick selflessly for nearly five years are now being "white anted", nobody can contact Patrick for two weeks and we will all need to pray extra hard to see that appeal being filed and to vision him as being released soon on bail followed by a blinding light of truth that pierces through the darkness of this mockery that was once a Court of Law.
Or maybe they have changed the spelling to CAUGHT !!! and just haven't told us.
Kindest regards and God Bless
Pastor Paul
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