GUEST BLOG: Jackie Foster – ARE WE DESENSITISED?

As I wrap up my blogs on Alan Hall, I cannot help but think of Alan’s family, in particular his mother who sadly passed away before her much love son was released from prison. 

Having read all evidence relating to Alan, but also Tenia Pora, Arthor Thomas and many more it saddens me how we as a country are seemingly desensitised from the real world. 

There are many wrongly convicted people alive in our country, also many passed away, but how often do we as a nation stand up and say enough is enough, even when clear evidence is put in front of us on television or on social media. 

In Alan’s case we have Detective Senior Sergeant Kelvin McMinn who has admitted the police purposely changed a written statement after being told to do so by the Crown prosecutor, and in doing so committing the very serious crime of perjury, but here we are years later, and no one has been charged. 

I’m not interested in why it was changed, I’m interested in accountability, and the people responsible, however many there were, being put in front of the courts and held accountable.

The crime has been committed, the evidence is there and even the perpetrator has admitted to doing it but all we see is silence.  

I ask you all, if the wrongly convicted person was your own son, daughter, brother or sister, would you simply shrug your shoulders and say, “what can I do”? I don’t think so.

This terrible bullying, corrupt practise has been going on not only for years, but decades, even longer but still as a country we remain silent, shrug our shoulders, and accept it with an “as long as it doesn’t affect me” attitude and it needs to change. 

I want you to think for one minute, if people like Mike Wesley Smith, Tim McKinnel and even Nick Chisnell had shrugged their shoulders Alan Hall would still be in prison with no voice simply because he was an easy target for a system that is so corrupt, and tunnel visioned its not funny. 

There are two reports due on the Alan Hall case, one from the police, and also one from the IPCA, which to be honest gives me no confidence at all, as I have blogged many time my concerns, very real concerns, around police investigating police and I am sorry but no one will ever tell me the IPCA, supposed police watch dog is not full of ex police officers because they are. 

I will not let Alan Hall’s investigation become one more statistic of the old boy’s club, which I can assure you, if allowed that is exactly what will happen. 

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