Falconio murderer 'is victim of a miscarriage of justice'

Published on 12/12/2006 11:52

A MECHANIC suffered a "miscarriage of justice" when he was found guilty of murdering British backpacker Peter Falconio in the Australian Outback, a court heard today.

Bradley Murdoch, 48, is appealing his conviction and sentence for shooting 28-year-old Mr Falconio five years ago.

He was found guilty by a Darwin jury in December last year on the basis of unreliable evidence given by Mr Falconio's girlfriend, Joanne Lees, the appeal heard.

Ian Barker QC, for Murdoch, argued the trial judge should have excluded Miss Lees' identification of Murdoch in a photograph line up because she had already seen his picture on the internet.

Her evidence in court that a photograph of Murdoch's dog was "very similar" to the animal belonging to Mr Falconio's killer was also unsound, he told the court.

Murdoch is serving a life sentence for murdering Mr Falconio on July 14, 2001.