Court rules priest too ill to face abuse charges

Share Button

The Sydney Morning Herald

Kim Arlington COURTS

September 10, 2010

A RETIRED Catholic priest accused of indecently assaulting three boys more than 30 years ago is unfit to stand trial, a judge ruled yesterday.

Hugh Edward Murray, 81, a former school teacher, faced five charges over assaults which allegedly occurred between 1966 and 1978.

The District Court heard he suffered from ”a complex set of medical ailments”, including organic brain damage and serious heart problems. He is on his sixth pacemaker and his treating doctors warned the stress of a trial could put him at risk of sudden death or ”an adverse cardiac event”.

Advertisement: Story continues below

Other medical evidence indicated the priest was fit for trial.

The judge, Greg Woods, said that might be the case if the trial were brief and uncomplicated, but it could involve more than 40 Crown witnesses and take up to three months.

The judge said that while Father Murray could still engage in day-to-day conversation, he was taking a variety of medication for different conditions and his capacities fluctuated.

He was satisfied there would be times during the trial when Father Murray would be unable to follow the proceedings, understand the evidence, instruct his lawyers or give his version of the facts.

Making it clear ”that this is a regrettable and frustrating outcome”, Judge Woods found the accused unfit for such a trial.

It was not the court’s role to explore why the assault claims were not raised earlier, he said, and he was not critical of the complainants over the delay. ”Yet realistically, where decades slip by, the chances of justice being served become more remote.”

The judge noted that Father Murray had been transferred numerous times during his career, which perhaps played a part in the overall picture.

But ”whether or not the Catholic Church and those who have directed Father Murray’s movements over the years bear some responsbility for this frustrating impasse, the fact is that at this point the opportunity to conduct a fair trial of these allegations has passed”, he said.

The case was referred to the Mental Health Review Tribunal to deal with at a later date.

Leave a Reply