Justice system out of balance

Local businessman Kimball McIntyre has called on the State Government to restore balance to the criminal justice system after he was acquitted of an extortion charge in the Albany District Court last Wednesday.

Mr McIntyre faced an extortion charge dating back to 2010, after sporting goods store mogul Jim Kidd claimed he had been threatened during a telephone call unless he settled an ongoing civil dispute with two franchisee owners, believed to be in the vicinity of $3 million.

Following his acquittal by a jury last week, Mr McIntyre, who claimed his innocence all along, said while he was relieved to have been found not guilty, legislative changes were required to ensure innocent people didn’t incur unrecoverable court costs.

“I have been treated as guilty until proven innocent by the court system and even though acquitted, I have had to bear the considerable financial costs of my defence to prove my innocence,” he said.

“These costs are unrecoverable if you are the accused in a criminal trial in the District Court of WA .

“I call on Christian Porter and the WA Government to restore balance to the criminal justice system by introducing a change which will allow innocent people to recover the reasonable costs of their defence.

“This will ensure the innocent don’t become the victims.”

Dismissal of Mr McIntyre’s charge was the second of two criminal court cases arising from the business dispute with Mr Kidd, dating back to 2003.

The civil dispute has been ongoing in the Federal Court of Australia since 2004.

Mr McIntyre’s barrister Shash Nigam said his client was yet another example of someone burdened with considerable emotional and financial costs despite being found innocent.

“The accused waits for more than a year to get to trial, finances his defence, goes through the emotional trauma of criminal proceedings, receives a speedy acquittal and does not get one dollar back in costs,” Mr Nigam said.

“In this sense, financially and emotionally, the process can destroy the accused person and his family.”

Mr Kidd did not rule out pursuing further criminal action after expressing disappointment in the outcome of the two cases.

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