SYDNEY: A woman who spent 20 years in imprisonment for the deaths of her four children, and was granted a pardon in June, saw her convictions quashed by the state of New South Wales on Thursday, with her lawyer saying she plans to claim “substantial” compensation.
Kathleen Folbigg, convicted in 2003 of murdering three of her children and manslaughter in the fourth’s death maintained her innocence and said the children had died of natural causes over between 1989 and 1999.
Initially, a 2019 inquiry reaffirmed her guilt, but a second inquiry in 2022, led by a former chief justice uncovered new evidence suggesting a genetic mutation in two of the children may have caused their deaths.
Released from prison in June after receiving a pardon, an emotional Folbigg expressed gratitude for advancements in science and genetics shedding light on her children’s deaths. She criticized the legal system for disregarding evidence that could have proven her innocence in 1999, stating that the system preferred to blame her rather than acknowledge that children can unexpectedly and heartbreakingly die.
Folbigg’s lawyer, Rhanee Rago, revealed that they are preparing a claim for “substantial” compensation, without specifying a figure but emphasizing it would surpass any previous compensation for wrongful imprisonment.
The case, primarily built on circumstantial evidence, sparked controversy among scientists and statisticians. Some, part of the campaign for Folbigg’s release, argued that despite new scientific evidence in 2019, basic scientific principles were not followed during the trial. Anna-Maria Arabia, CEO of the Australian Academy of Science, stressed the need for law reform to prevent such miscarriages of justice from recurring.
