David Bain and Peter Ellis were convicted by the same judge - and further doubts have been raised over his rulings to omit evidence from their high-profile trials.
The late Justice Neil Williamson, who famously uttered: "Well, who did it? David Bain or Robin Bain?", refused to letDean Cottle testify at Bain's trial because he deemed him an unreliable witness. Cottle became a key strand in campaigner Joe Karam's case to show that his father Robin Bain allegedly had motive to commit the murders, because Cottle claimed to have knowledge that Robin Bain was in a sexual relationship with daughter Laniet.
Justice Williamson's decision to not admit evidence by Cottle formed the basis of Bain's unsuccessful appeal to the High Court in 1995.
However, the Law Lords' decision to quash Bain's convictions specifically pointed out Justice Williamson's omission of crucial evidence as a miscarriage of justice.
Now, the lawyer for convicted paedophile Peter Ellis is planning to file a petition to the Privy Council.
Ellis served seven years of a 10-year sentence for his conviction of molesting children at the Christchurch Civic Creche in 1993. Ellis' lawyer, Judith Ablett-Kerr QC said that although the Ellis and Bain cases were different, in both cases the jury did not have the full information.
