Justice is too slow
“JUSTICE delayed is justice denied’’ is a saying that applies not just to the rights of victims and defendants in court action, but also has implications for the most vulnerable people in the community, children.
More than two years after Gold Coast man Kane Barry died from injuries suffered in a fight with a neighbour, his family – including his little daughter – remain in limbo.
They wait for the wheels of justice to turn ever so slowly to the point where the circumstances of that fateful day are scrutinised and a jury is able to consider whether the neighbour, Nathan Sanchez, remains free or goes to jail.
Everyone involved in this case has reason to want those wheels of justice to speed up. There is the “not knowing’’ and yearning for some sort of resolution for Barry’s family; there are the sleepless nights and worry for the man charged over his death, and indeed for his loved ones. But all these people are not alone in having to wait so long.
Last year, before retiring from a long and distinguished legal career, Southport judge Clive Wall lamented a backlog of cases and shortage of judges, and said state MPs had the power to allow for more expedient sentencing by appointing more judges.
Delays might stem from the complexity of cases and need for reports from forensics labs or psychiatric assessments, or from the anticipated length of murder trials and trying to fit them into the court calendar.
When Sanchez applied for bail in November 2014, a Supreme Court judge noted as he granted bail that Sanchez had a reasonable case of self-defence and if denied bail, would likely have to spend up to a year in custody before the charges could be tried.
Two years have since passed and the allegations still have yet to be tested at trial.
Since Barry’s death, his daughter Ellie-May has continued to grieve, writing letters to her dad that are heart-wrenching testimony to a little girl’s love.
“Bringing closure’’ is an overused term. It is doubtful such a thing exists in a case like this, but by getting the matter to trial the parties have a chance to move on, even in the bleakest of circumstances.