NO FEAR AND NO FAVOURS
WOMEN AT FRONTLINE OF CRIME-FIGHTING
CRIMINAL defence lawyer Zali Burrows has a police chopper hovering at her CBD office window.
Inside, she’s meeting a client whose mouth drops open.
“This is some Hollywood shit,” he stammers. He’s right.
The extraordinary stories divulged by Ms Burrows and the female trailblazers interviewed in News Corp’s new eight-part podcast Lady Justice do – at times – sound preposterous.
But here’s the kicker: Every one is real and collected from the frontline of the justice system.
Take veteran prisoner officer Jane Lohse who had a lunch “date” with serial killer Ivan Milat, and was also perplexed by the polite nature of serial rapist Daryl Suckling, who killed Melbourne woman Jodie Larcombe.
“He had a lot of respect for women, except for the ones he killed,” Mrs Lohse said.
Then there’s Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll, who went undercover to collect evidence on a suspected murderer – and even posed as a street walker.
“What I saw as a 23-yearold ’til about 27 most people would never see in their lifetime,” Ms Carroll said.
If you think that’s outlandish, meet real-life CSI professional Dr Jodie Ward.
She helps identify murder victims, unidentified human remains, and missing persons at a death-storage facility known colloquially as “The Body Farm”.
She helped crack the puzzling 10-year cold case of
Sydney man Matthew Leveson, and has stories of bodies moving after death (which doesn’t quite happen as the zombie horror flicks would have you believe).
Carlene York has had her own brush with death.
These days she’s heading the flood recovery as commissioner of the NSW SES, but not long ago she was capturing one of Australia’s most-wanted fugitive’s, Malcolm Naden, and went into hiding when a drug dealer wanted her family dead.
“You’re always looking over your shoulder, wondering what could happen, worried about your children. So, yeah, there’s some downsides to being in the police,” Ms York said.
Human rights barrister Claire O’Connor SC has also felt the sting of working in the justice system but in her case it was backlash for lifting the lid on the sexual harassment and bullying that remains rife within the legal profession.
“I have had three women talk to me about attempted rapes and rapes that have happened with senior people in their worksite,” she said.
Sex offenders are just part of the daily grind for correc
tional services officer Kattrina Schyndel, who was even tasked with managing one of the gang-raping Skaf brothers while he was having a delusional episode.
“He was speaking to the devil under the floor,” Ms Schyndel said.
Justine Saunders, chief operating officer for the Department of Home Affairs, has had the safety of the nation on her shoulders running the Australian Federal Police’s joint counter-terrorism teams with the states, as well keeping our borders safe while deputy commissioner of the Australian Border Force.
“What was always in the back of my mind was if we get this wrong, the implications are huge. It changes the very fabric of society,” she said.