Emergency call 'could affect compensation'

An alleged remark by David Bain on a 111 call has been rubbished by his legal team, but a criminal law expert says it could count against him when it comes to any bid for compensation.

The Supreme Court yesterday released material withheld from the jury in Mr Bain's murder retrial. It included part of the 111 call he made to report the deaths of his family on June 20, 1994.

Mr Bain was acquitted last week of the murder of his parents and three siblings.

However, police claimed that he could be heard saying "I shot the prick", or words close to it, on the 111 call.

In the Supreme Court yesterday, Chief Justice Sian Elias said it must be made clear that the court had not considered the evidence to be relevant or reliable.

Helen Cull, QC, said her client would be unfairly prejudiced by the release of the material.

"The courts must not become an unwitting party in harassment of a person who has been acquitted, and this is germane in the case of David Bain.

"None of the experts could agree if the sounds were even words, and if they were words, what they were ... it's not evidence, it's nonsense."

Mr Bain's chief lawyer, Michael Reed, QC, called the alleged recorded comment "clouds in the sky and imagination".

"There is nothing on the tape of any value whatsoever. It depends who tells you what's on there on first as to what you hear. If someone tells you it says 'I can't breathe', you hear that."

Police and the Crown would not comment yesterday.

Chris Gallavin, of the Canterbury University School of Law, said that while the release of the material would not affect Mr Bain's murder acquittal, it could, with other issues, affect a bid for compensation for wrongful imprisonment.

To get compensation, he will have to convince a queen's counsel that, on the balance of probabilities, he was not involved in the murders of his family.

"I just don't think he has got a show of getting compensation under those criteria," Dr Gallavin said.

He said material was quite legitimately withheld from juries for any number of reasons.

"Unfortunately it's just going to feed the flames of the element of the public that still staunchly believe there is blood on David's hands.

"In a sense, it's going to feed the rumour mill, and the conspiracy theorists.

"Whether we think David had something to do with [the murders] or not, he's been acquitted by a jury."