`Life begins again' as Fingleton exonerated
24.06.2005

Former Queensland chief magistrate Di Fingleton, who spent six months in jail for threatening a subordinate, was exonerated yesterday by the High Court, reports Tony Koch

THE ringing of a tiny red mobile phone in an inner-city Brisbane motel room at 9.40am yesterday had an explosive effect in the quiet chamber.
Di Fingleton's husband, John McGrath, said: ``Do you want to take the call?''
``No,'' she replied in little more than a whisper, dropping her face into her hands, the strain and apprehension clearly evident.
He listened for a few seconds then punched the air.
``Appeal upheld. Convictions quashed. Thank God -- life begins again.''
So ended three years of hell for Di Fingleton, stripped of her job as Queensland's chief magistrate and jailed for six months in June 2003 for an action that six High Court judges (Brisbane-based judge Ian Callinan excused himself) declared yesterday should never have amounted to a criminal charge, let alone a conviction and jail term. Ms Fingleton, a former solicitor who was appointed chief magistrate in 1999, was found guilty in 2003 of threatening a subordinate magistrate, Basil Gribbin.
She had sent him an email asking him to show cause why he should not be sacked as a co-ordinating magistrate after he had supported another magistrate, who was fighting a transfer out of Brisbane.
The unanimous decision of the High Court -- delivered by Chief Justice Murray Gleeson -- is a serious embarrassment for the entire Queensland legal fraternity because none picked up on Section 21A of the Magistates Act, which provides immunity from prosecution for judicial officers acting in an official administrative capacity.
``(Ms Fingleton) should not have been held criminally responsible for the conduct alleged against her,'' Chief Justice Gleeson said.
``By statute, she was entitled to a protection and immunity that was wrongly denied to her.''
Ms Fingleton, 58, was too apprehensive to attend the court -- sitting in Brisbane -- herself.
But two of her brothers, John and Ron Fingleton, were present for the judgment before racing out to share in the celebrations with their youngest sibling.
``We got into a cab and the driver said he had heard the news on the radio and congratulated us,'' Ron said. ``He drove us here and then refused to accept payment for the fare.''
The gesture was a measure of how Brisbane reacted to the news. Few believed it was justice for Ms Fingleton to be sentenced to a year in prison for the ``crime'' of sending an email to a subordinate whom she accused of disloyalty.
Ms Fingleton's popularity can be gauged by the number of friends who openly supported her -- with former governor-general Bill Hayden and close friend Roisin Goss, wife of former premier Wayne Goss, among those who visited her in prison.
Ms Fingleton yesterday made several dozen thank-you calls to people she said were special supporters. They included a woman prisoner she befriended in jail.
But there was no public apology from acting Premier Terry Mackenroth or Attorney-General Rod Welford, who said she would not be reinstated to her former post because she had quit.