A long wait for justice

TWENTY-TWO years is a long time to live in purgatory.

Ricky Balcombe’s tragic murder in 1995 not only ended the life of a 16-year-old who had his whole future ahead of him, it also relegated his loved ones to 22 years of agony.

It is hard to imagine the pain of those who knew and loved Ricky Balcombe over these past decades. In particular Ricky’s mother, Christine Loader, who has spoken often of the unfathomable pain that comes with not only having your son murdered but waiting for years for his crime to be brought to justice.

She has been forced to relive that fateful day every time the cold case made headlines, rewards were offered or, as was the case earlier this year, her son’s murder became the subject of a national true crimes TV program. She has seen Karl Hague, the man charged yesterday with her son’s murder, continually protest his innocence.

Yesterday the Newcomb mum expressed immense relief that the end of the painful journey may be in sight.

“It was a shock (that this has occurred). When you wait so long, you sometimes don’t think it will ever happen,” she said.

Mrs Loader also expressed her gratitude to the detectives who refused to let the cold case rest. Yesterday’s arrest is testament to the remarkable tenacity and determination of those very police.

The charges send a message that time is no barrier to a crime being investigated, and that a life taken on Geelong’s streets will be treated seriously by police for as long as it takes.

Mrs Loader’s journey is far from over. There is a long way to go in the judicial process and guilt is yet to be established.

It also will never ease the pain of losing a son so young. Long after any court case has ended, Mrs Loader will still be left with an agony no mother should ever have to endure.

But she — and the rest of the Geelong community — can take solace from the knowledge that 22 years has not dampened the passion of those who want to see her son’s killer brought to justice.