David Bain will not receive compensation from the Government for the time he spent in prison.
Justice Minister Amy Adams today announced that retired judge Ian Callinan had found that Bain was not innocent beyond reasonable doubt, the NZ Herald reports.
As a result, the Government would not be making an apology or compensating Bain for his time spent in prison.
Bain told the Herald: “Mr Callinan, Ms Adams and everybody that’s been involved in the case to date have got it wrong: I am innocent”.
Bain, 43, spent 13 years in jail after he was convicted of the 1995 murder of five family members. The Privy Council quashed his convictions and he was acquitted in a retrial in 2009.
Despite being denied formal compensation, he will receive an “ex-gratia” payment of $925,000 in recognition of the time involved and expenses incurred, and to bring closure to the long-running claim.
A 2012 report by former Canadian Supreme Court Justice Ian Binnie recommended compensation based on the view that Bain was probably innocent – not innocent beyond reasonable doubt.
Adams said this case is very different to Teina Pora’s, who was awarded $2.5 million by the Crown for his wrongful conviction.
