Colleagues Paint a Different Picture of Whistleblower
Brisbane Times
Sitting quietly in the public gallery of a Newcastle court, the man who sparked a royal commission on child sex abuse following a set of explosive, scathing and accusatory claims about the police force and his colleagues has this week watched a queue of his former colleagues paint a very different picture. One by one, former and serving officers in the Newcastle-Maitland area and from the elite Sex Crimes Squad in Sydney have rejected Detective Inspector Peter Fox's claims at the Special Commission of Inquiry, one even describing his allegations as ''disgusting'', ''crazy'' and that he had ''destroyed'' the reputations of good, hard-working officers. Inspector Fox propelled himself onto the national stage with allegations that a strike force set up to investigate allegations of abuse cover-up within the church had itself failed because of a whitewash by senior officers. He alleged that his superiors ordered him to stop investigating the alleged cover-up of abuse committed by a priest, Father Denis McAlinden - however, Commissioner Margaret Cunneen, SC, has been told he was in fact never part of the police strike force, code-named Lantle, established to investigate the so-called cover-up. The inquiry has heard that, instead, Inspector Fox pursued his own investigation into Father McAlinden, working closely with Newcastle Herald reporter Joanne McCarthy - allegedly leaking her a witness statement from one of the priest's victims. In evidence before the inquiry this week, the state's most senior sex crimes investigator, Detective Inspector Paul Jacob, said these leaks had the potential to undermine the strike force's work. Former Newcastle commander Detective Superintendent Max Mitchell, said on Friday it was ''totally incorrect'' for Inspector Fox to claim Strike Force Lantle was ''set up to fail'', telling the commission he chose ''competent and professional officers''. His sentiments were supported by the evidence of former senior Crown prosecutor Ian Lloyd, QC, who was engaged by the commission to examine Lantle's work. It took him more than three days to read the 3000-page brief of evidence that was sent to the DPP, and told the inquiry that given the historical and complex complaints involved, the time it took to complete ''was not surprising or unreasonable''. He described the expertise of Detective Inspector Jacob combined with the Newcastle detectives as a ''perfect marriage''. He was also complimentary of Inspector Fox, saying he ''did a fine job taking witness statements from clearly traumatised victims''. But earlier in the week, the former Newcastle crime manager Brad Tayler resoundingly slammed Inspector Fox's claims as ''disgusting'' and ''crazy'' which had ruined the reputations of good, hard-working officers. Detective Chief Inspector Tayler, said every effort was made to investigate claims that clergy had concealed things, but the investigation was halted by a victim who refused to make a statement. The inquiry previously heard that Strike Force Lantle had a number of staffing issues, including sick leave and annual leave and that resources were stretched to breaking point across the region. Earlier in the week, Inspector Fox earned the ire of Ms Cunneen for what one counsel described as ''clearly inaccurate'' use of Twitter during the proceedings. Ms Cunneen described his conduct as ''indecorous and indignant''. The inquiry will resume on June 24. \
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