Terry Irving awarded $130,000 for malicious prosecution that led to wrongful imprisonment over 1993 Cairns robbery

A man who was awarded $130,000 for a malicious prosecution that led to him being wrongfully convicted of a bank robbery says “the money is insignificant compared to the damage”. 

Terry Irving, an Indigenous man, was initially charged as an accessory to the crime for loaning his car to the person responsible for robbing an ANZ branch in Cairns on March 19, 1993. 

But while he was in custody he was charged with the robbery itself, accused of stealing more $6,000.

His conviction was overturned in 1997 after he had spent 1,671 days in prison.

The $130,000 compensation awarded to Mr Irving by the Supreme Court of Queensland was only in relation to the accessory charge, which was found to be a malicious prosecution by the Court of Appeal in 2021.

Helen Marie Pgingst, the officer who charged Mr Irving in 1993, was the first defendant in the matter. The state of Queensland was the second. 

Terry Irving spent four years in prison before his conviction was ultimately quashed. (Supplied: Terry Irving)

Justice Brown, who presided over the matter, awarded Mr Irving $65,000 in general damages for deprivation of liberty, $45,000 in aggravated damages for humiliation and misuse of power, and $20,000 in exemplary damages to punish the abuse of office.

Interest of two per cent per annum on the payments will apply from September 2011, which is when Justice Brown ruled the litigation started in earnest. 

“I consider that the litigation was not, in reality, advanced until the service of the statement of claim [on September 28, 2011],” the ruling said.

The defendants were also ordered to pay 40 per cent of Mr Irving’s legal costs, according to Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, who represented Mr Irving.

“Despite the length and impact of his imprisonment, the damages awarded cover only the first seven days of his detention,” a statement for the firm said.

Waiting on an apology

In a comment through his lawyers, Mr Irving said the he was “vindicated” but “not free from the pain of injustice from the false and wrongful accusations”. 

Speaking with the ABC this afternoon, Mr Irving said in his mind the charges were “inseparable” and the “inadequacy” of the compensation “allows the police to go basically without sanction”. 

“The amount of money is insignificant compared to the damage,” he said. 

Loading…

Mr Irving said he is yet to receive an official apology from the state over his wrongful conviction. 

“That suffering has never been apologised for — I lost 1,671 days, locked up for an offence I did not commit,” he said. 

“I was maliciously prosecuted, I was wrongfully convicted, and the state government and every attorney general since 1993 has refused to say, ‘Sorry Terry, we got it wrong.'”

Maurice Blackburn principal lawyer Melissa Meyers said the firm welcomed the “recognition of harm”, but urged the government “to fairly compensate [Mr Irving’s] full period of wrongful incarceration”.