Gerard Baden-Clay Murder Appeal Overturned By The High Court

Gerard Baden-Clay is in the news again today after the High Court overturned his successful appeal and opted to reinstate his murder conviction.

This final ruling comes after a controversial decision made last year by the Queensland Court of Appeal that set aside Baden-Clay’s murder conviction, instead substituting it with manslaughter. At the time they felt that the prosecution hadn’t been able to prove that Baden-Clay intentionally, as opposed to accidentally, murdered Allison. The main difference in the charges for the father-of-three is in how long a prison sentence he will serve.

Image via news.com.au

However, the High Court has now closed the case indefinitely by ruling that Baden-Clay did in fact murder his wife. With no further avenues of appeal, Baden-Clay will continue to serve his life sentence.

A statement from the High Court noted that “the Court of Appeal erred in concluding that the jury’s verdict of guilty of murder was unreasonable on the basis that the prosecution had failed to exclude the hypothesis that the respondent unintentionally killed his wife”.

Friends and family of Allison, as well as supporters, were visibly emotional when the verdict was announced this morning. In a statement to the media Allison’s best friend Kerry-Anne Walker paid tribute to the woman who “loved being a wife and mother”. She said that “today’s decision in the High Court comes with both relief and elation” and that “justice for Allison has finally been realised”.