More of A QUESTION OF JUSTICE
14.09.1996
By: KOCH A
From WEEKEND 1
When Christine moved in with her parents at their acreage home at
Mooloolah, Farrah kept up his harassment. He would phone, sometimes
dozens of times a day, and when the phone was answered he would often
remain silent, or would launch into obscenities and threats.
There also was his ""soft'' side where he appealed to her and
expressed
his love.
Among Christine's belongings were three letters hand-written by
Farrah and dated May 30, 1995, May 31 and June 1. He proclaimed his
innocence of child-sex accusations and begged her to phone.
His first letter said: ""In case we never meet again I just want to
take this opportunity to say that I think you're wonderful and I love
you very much and that there will always be a place in my heart for
you. I always thought about the future and us together. I wanted you to
be my wife and the mother of my children.''
His letter of June 1 told how he would walk over 10 miles of broken
glass just to hold her. ""Don't you know I want to be your man for
life? I would always look after you and never let anyone hurt you.''
Strange promises for one who spent most of his time abusing,
kicking and punching the woman he said he loved.
But the most prophetic statement was to come at the end of the
letter: ""I hate to boast but you'll never meet a guy as good as me
again and you know that.''
The Coolum police were contacted regularly, but little could be
done to stop the continued harassment. The Nash family are bitter about
what they see as police inaction. But the situation was complicated by
the fact that on occasions Christine voluntarily went back to Farrah
even after severe assaults.
It wasn't just the Nash family who were worried about Farrah's
violence. His mother, Yvonne, once signed him in to the Winston-Noble
psychiatric unit because of his violence.
In an interview with The Courier-Mail on November 1, 1995 _ just
days after Ross Farrah confessed to the murder, Yvonne Farrah said she
had pleaded with health authorities to keep her son in the psychiatric
unit for fear he might hurt someone. She said she had been concerned
about the way he had been acting towards Christine Nash for three
months before the murder.
""It was a very volatile relationship,'' she said.
Yvonne Farrah had taken out an order for her son to be put into
custody and admitted to the Winston-Noble psychiatric unit. He was
admitted for a week and doctors told her he was fine and let him leave.
""They said there was nothing wrong with him and that they would
have to find something wrong with him while he was there,'' she said.
""I did say to them that I could not be responsible if he harmed the
girl or did something more serious to her.''
Yvonne Farrah said she was told that beds were needed at the
hospital and that because there was nothing wrong with her son, he
would be discharged. ""I know myself he can't be in the community
unless he is medically dealt with,'' she said.
""No one ever wants to listen to the mother.''
Patricia Nash described Farrah as having ""a strange hold over
Christine''. But that hold was tested after a particularly severe
assault in August when charges were laid at Noosa court. Strangely,
police
did not proceed with the charges.
Christine also made a complaint to police about an incident where
Farrah was alleged to have forced a young girl to have oral sex.
And another issue bubbled to the surface, one eventually cited as a
motivating factor in her murder. Farrah and Christine had a mutual
friend, 19-year-old Jessie Djordjevic. At the beginning of their
relationship, Farrah accused Christine several times of having flirted
with Djordjevic _ imputations she denied
.
One day early in 1995 Farrah asked Christine if she had seen
Djordjevic, and she replied that he was on Coolum beach. Farrah went to
the beach and an hour or two later came back and said Djordjevic had
drowned. ""The last time I saw him he had his arm up in the water and
he was going down,'' he told Christine.
""I got a fright and ran home.''
Patricia Nash echoes the suspicions of her daughter, and those of
many of their friends. ""The police told us they suspected him and we
certainly did too _ that he drowned Jessie. All their friends thought
the same thing. The beach was deserted _ no witnesses and although
there were discrepancies in his statements, no charges were laid.''
Farrah was furious that his friends were talking about the two
issues _ molesting the child and the rumours of him having a hand in
the death of Djordjevic.
On Tuesday, October 24, Christine was phoned at her parents' home
by a friend, David Burge, who asked if she would go to Coolum and help
him pack up and move house. She agreed and after lunch, drove her car
to the township.
Ron Nash picks up the story: ""Burge asked Chrissie if she would
come and help him shift his furniture. But it was only a ploy,'' he
said.
Christine needed to go to Coolum anyway to collect further
affidavits against Farrah from her friend Annette Benson.
""Burge went with her to Cooroy and Pomona and back to Coolum about
7.30 on the day she was murdered
.
""Burge took her to the home of some friends of Farrah's, the
Haywoods, and when they got there she was grabbed by Farrah. Burge
rushed away with the car because her belongings were still there _ her
overnight bag and purse.
""He had delivered her to Farrah and then left her stranded. I
fronted Jeff Haywood after the murder and what he said to me was
unbelievable. He said, "We thought he would only assault her and they
would put him away.' Farrah used Burge to get Chrissie over there and
she was delivered to the gutless mongrel bastard.''
The allegation that he delivered Christine to Farrah's hands is
disputed by Burge in statements he gave to police shortly after the
murder. He says Farrah was watching television when they arrived that
night, although he admits he met Farrah that morning at 10.30.
In a statement written on July 8, 1996, Burge said he knew of many
occasions when Farrah abused Christine, ""both physically and
mentally''.
He told of an occasion when Christine was in his house and ran to a
bedroom from Farrah. Burge wrote: ""I then heard Chrissie scream and
saw Ross carrying her fireman-style through the rear sliding door. He
then tossed her over the two-metre back fence and took her away in the
car.
""Chrissie was in fear of her life from Ross and only wanted to be
free of him so she and her kids could start afresh.''
Whatever the truth of the matter, early in the morning of October
25 Christine Nash died of horrific injuries inflicted by Farrah. The
same day he confessed to police that in a park near Coolum State School
he had kicked her ""as hard as I could in the face between 20 and 25
times'' before strangling her and dumping her body near the school's
oval.
MENTAL HEALTH TRIBUNAL,
March 29, 1996.
WHAT is remarkable about this hearing _ to establish whether Farrah
was fit to face trial, or whether he was of unsound mind at the time of
the murder _ was the complete lack of evidence presented by the Crown.
That, at least, is the opinion of Ron and Patricia Nash. Two
witnesses _ Jeff Haywood and Douglas Russell _ both friends of Farrah,
were called to give evidence that in their opinion he was very
disturbed in the days leading up to the murder.
No witnesses were called on the victim's behalf. No affidavits were
tendered from people attesting to his continued history of violence against Christine, even though they were in the hands of investigating
police. The final judgment of the Mental Health Tribunal stated that
Christine Nash ""frequently contacted'' Farrah after they split. But
there is no mention of the persistent stalking, incessant telephone
calls and visits initiated by him. A picture is painted of her being
unable to resist him, but in fact she lived in terror. The Nashes ask
why the tribunal was not told of this, and given supporting evidence.
Dozens of documents and sworn statements telling of Christine's
plight and Farrah's violence and cunning nature were available to the
Crown Law office, yet none was provided to the tribunal.
The three psychiatrists who gave evidence _ Dr Rob Moyle, Dr Pat
Edwards and Dr Peter Fama _ differed in their assessments of Farrah's
mental state at the time of the crime.
Crucial material was supplied by Dr Fama, the psychiatrist in
charge of the John Oxley hospital at which Farrah had been held and
treated since his arrest.
Dr Fama, an expert in this field whose evidence is treated with
great respect in Queensland courts, wrote to the tribunal before the
final judgment was delivered. That letter said, ""there is no clinical
need for further detention of Ross in hospital'' and that, should
charges be preferred, he should be transferred to a prison.
Put simply, Dr Fama believed in May that Farrah could not benefit
further by being detained in the psychiatric hospital.
Legal experts in the psychiatric health area say that no patient
can be held in a mental institution if he or she is judged to have
responded properly to clinical treatment. The patient has a legal right
to leave, subject to approval by the Patient Review Tribunal, and to
further treatment checks the tribunal may order.
But the psychiatric hospital has no authority to ""detain'' a
person _ the notions of punishment and treatment cannot be mixed.
Nothing could be plainer than the ""Patient Information'' document
given to Farrah when he entered John Oxley hospital.
It said: ""You have been placed in hospital by an order from the
Mental Health Tribunal.
""The Mental Health Tribunal has found that either you were of
unsound mind at the time of your alleged offence or are at present
unfit for trial.
""If you have been found to have been of unsound mind at the time
of your offence, this means that because of mental disorder you have
been excused of any crime. In effect, you have been found not guilty
because of unsoundness of mind.
""You can never be tried again for the offence. However, the
tribunal has made you a restricted patient liable to be detained in
hospital.
""Patients under Section 36 of the Mental Health Act may be given
leave from the hospital as part of their rehabilitation.
""Leave is granted by the Mental Health Tribunal or by the Patient
Review Tribunal, on a recommendation from the treating doctors. Terms
of leave must be carried out properly, otherwise there can be a
compulsory return to hospital for a more lengthy stay.''
In his judgment of May 16, 1996, tribunal head Mr Justice Paul de
Jersey said the essential facts of the matter (the homicide) were not
contested.
He said: ""The victim was the patient's former girlfriend with whom
he had previously lived for six months as man and wife.''
That is not correct. Farrah lived at home with his mother and used
to visit Christine at her home nearby
.
The judgment continued: ""It was a stormy relationship. They both
used cannabis regularly and Christine drank to excess. He was violent
towards her. After their separation she took out domestic violence
restraining orders against him. He had returned to live with his mother
at Coolum but Christine still frequently contacted him.
""In the period before the killing, the patient developed strong
feelings of anger towards Christine. Three matters fed the anger. First
there were her complaints to police of his violence, with relation both
to her person and to her property.
""Second she alleged that he was implicated in the drowning of a
mutual friend, Jessie, a year before. Third she contended that he had
sexually molested a young girl. News of those allegations spread among
their friends.
""The patient (at the tribunal he is not referred to as an accused)
was consequently touchy and aggressive. He slept with a knife under his
bed. By the night of the killing, he was tense and wary in company
.
""As to the paranoia, the patient's mother says that during the
week before the killing he was particularly tense, with voices coming
at him from the TV.
""The patient's mother described his behaviour in the week before
the crime as "weird and crazy, obsessional and violent, threatening . .
. as if he were going to explode'.'' Concerned for her own safety, she
left her house on three occasions.
""His friend, Mr Russell, describes
frightening behaviour and demeanour, disturbing outbursts.
""As to the killing, Dr Fama offered this precise account:
"The killing itself took place after a bizarre sequence during
which Ross twice had sexual intercourse with Christine, apparently at
her insistence or at least with her willing consent, despite his having
punched her enough to make her nose bleed.
"Finally after the second intercourse, Christine, who was drunk,
once more taunted Ross with her threat to have him prosecuted for
molesting (the young girl). From what Ross recalls, she told him,
You're gonna be in jail a long time and I'm gonna be in court to see
you go down.
"At this, Ross, by his account, snapped, picked up Christine, flung
her on the ground and kicked her into insensibility, finishing off the
gruesome homicide by strangling her with his hands.
"His recall of those events which can be checked is accurate. Ross
does not claim any blackout or impairment of consciousness. Nor has he
accounted for the homicide in terms of the evidently psychotic events
(voices, TV influence) he had apparently experienced prior to the
event.' ''
The tribunal accepted that Farrah and Christine went to the park
where they twice had consensual sex and that after that she taunted him
so he murdered her.
Was the act of sex consensual? Is it logical for a person after
sexual intercourse to taunt a person she knows from bitter personal
experience is violent towards her?
The judgment said that all three examining doctors agreed that
Farrah suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. Only Dr Edwards considered
Farrah was of unsound mind at the time of the crime. The task of the
tribunal was to decide exactly that _ Farrah's mental state at the time
of the crime.
There was argument about the degree of influence that the
""voices'' Farrah alleged he heard had on his actions.
Mr Justice de Jersey wrote: ""To my mind the more significant point
is that the patient did not at any stage claim that voices commanded
him to commit the offence. He denied any such command. He also did not,
at any time, advance his schizophrenia as a contributing cause of his
conduct.
""There is no particular reason why one could not rely on the
patient's explanation for the strangulation. That is because the
explanation he gave was entirely consistent, particularly incriminating
(amounting to a confession of killing with intent) and not
self-serving.
""One could reasonably infer that the patient did not see what he
was doing was wrong.''
Mr Justice de Jersey accepted the minority view _ that of Dr
Edwards _ that at the time of the murder Farrah was ""suffering from
unsoundness of mind''.
Was Farrah ""aware'' that his actions were wrong?
According to Dr Moyle, Farrah had a low intelligence and a paranoid
schizophrenic illness that became
more active at times of tension
.
Mr Justice de Jersey concluded: ""I find that at the time of the
commission of the alleged offence, the patient was suffering from unsoundness of mind. I order that he be detained as a restricted
patient at the John Oxley Memorial Hospital. There will be leave to use
the materials before this tribunal for the purposes of the Patient
Review Tribunal.''
At this point the judge issued a warning about the future handling
_ or release _ of Farrah.
""The material before me shows that the patient is a severely
unstable and highly dangerous paranoid schizophrenic. His proper future
management will be as a restricted patient at the John Oxley Memorial
Hospital.
""He will therefore, because of the legislation, have the right to
apply for leave at some future time.
""That would ordinarily be determined in the first instance by the
Patient Review Tribunal. While I cannot in law seek to fetter the
independent discretion of that tribunal, I will express my serious
expectation _ which the assisting doctors share _ that a PRT could not
responsibly embark upon any such consideration of leave without first
obtaining comprehensive, independent, external psychiatric assessments
of the patient.
""That would undoubtedly, in my respectful opinion, be the
appropriate course, allowing for the dangerous propensity of the
patient and the grave importance in this case of allaying public fear.
""I have made clear, in other words, as far as I can, my view as to
the enormous responsibility which the Patient Review Tribunal bears in
this particular case.''
However, as has been spelt out, if ""nothing more clinically can be
done for the patient'' the Patient Review Tribunal has little legal
option but to release him, even with medical reporting conditions.
MATTERS OF CONCERN
SEVERAL issues on the interpretation of facts surrounding the case
warrant closer scrutiny.
Mr Justice de Jersey spoke during the initial hearing on March 29
of evidence given by Dr Edwards who said Farrah had told him he was a
""heavy'' user of marijuana.
The evidence was that he used up to 20 ""cones'' a day, at a daily
cost of $30. That is a massive amount for any user, and would be
difficult to finance at $30 a day. The judge obviously questioned those
figures and the amount being consumed. Farrah was, at the time, on an
invalid pension.
Dr Edwards told the tribunal that, given Farrah was a
schizophrenic, this amount of drug consumption could well have
aggravated his condition. He also ""wondered'' about the amount being
used.
Contrast that evidence with the confession made on video by Farrah
when he gave himself up to police
the day of the murder. Here are his replies to questions by Det
Snr-Constable M.N. Gibbon and Det Sgt J.H. Wacker:
Q. What was your state last night Ross? Had you been drinking or
under any drugs or alcohol? A. Nothing at all.
Q. So had you had anything to drink? Nothing at all yesterday or
last night? A. No, nothing.
Q. Did you take any drugs or medication? A. Not at all, no.
Q. Now how would you describe your state at the time? A. I would
say reasonably calm.
He said he picked Christine up ""like a spear tackle'' and threw
her down on her back. He then kicked her ""as hard as I could'' in the
face for about five minutes, and estimated he had kicked her 20 to 25
times.
Asked how he knew she was dead, Farrah replied: ""Well after I took
my hands off her, off her throat, I knew she wasn't breathing any more.
She didn't make any sounds and she didn't . . . I checked her pulse and
there was nothing there so, after I strangled her, I realised
she had deceased.''
Asked how he checked her pulse, he replied: ""I just _ my index and
little finger on her left wrist and just firm grip and, you know, I
noticed
there wasn't any pulse.''
Asked later in the video-taped interview about his schizophrenia,
Farrah said he was not on any medication but that he occasionally
""heard voices''.
He said: ""I realise when it's happening and that, the last six
months to one year, it's been reasonably isolated. It just happens, you
know, once every couple of weeks and that's why I'm not on any
medication because I don't feel it's a full-on blown case. So that's
why I'm not on any medication at the moment.''
Asked if he was seeing a doctor, he replied that he did not have a
regular practitioner. He said he had heard voices the night before the
murder but could not recall what they said, nor the time it happened
.
He was asked if he was ""fully aware of his actions last night''
and replied: ""Up to the time I snapped, yeah.''
Why wasn't that voluntary confessional evidence put before the
tribunal by Crown Law? Why weren't investigating police called to
support this evidence which obviously
conflicts with the unchallenged material accepted by the tribunal?
Ron and Patricia Nash said they were told by a Crown Law official
that they should not attend the tribunal hearing _ yet it is an open
court. They did not know any better
and stayed away.
It is noteworthy also that Mr Justice de Jersey had previously
warned about the growing number of people suffering schizophrenia who
use drugs and then claim they are not responsible for crimes.
Six months before the murder of Christine Nash, the judge wrote in
the annual report of the Mental Health Tribunal presented to
Parliament:
""The tribunal is somewhat concerned about the apparently growing
incidence of drug-induced psychoses. Where drugs operate on an existing
mental derangement, the patient may be found to have been of unsound
mind, even though that condition would, but for the drugs, have
remained dormant.
""The tribunal's concern centres on those cases where the patient
quite wilfully resorts to unlawful drugs, knowing of the likely
consequence to the underlying psychotic state.
""The number of such cases appears to be increasing, and the
desirability of giving such patients the benefit of the defence of
unsoundness of mind may need to be reconsidered from the point of view
of social policy.''
On his own evidence given after he killed Christine Nash, Farrah
said he was calm leading up to the incident and had not used drugs or
alcohol. He was able to attempt to take her pulse after the vicious
assault, and then was in possession of his faculties to the extent
that he walked to the home of a neighbour, Doug Russell.
He told Russell that he had been involved in a fight and that
accounted for all the blood on his clothes. He then tried to induce
Russell to provide an alibi for him by saying that he had been at
Russell's house from 10.30 the night before
.
He showered at Russell's home and then went to his own house where
he spent the day until almost 6pm when he rang Coolum police and told
them to come and get him because he had information about the body they
had found near the schoolyard.
Ron and Pat Nash say that justice has not been done. Few would
disagree, particularly if Farrah is soon able to walk the streets
without so much as a conviction on his record over this dreadful case.
The Mental Health Act is an important piece of legislation and
serves a valuable role, but it was never meant to provide a refuge for
violent murderers such as Ross Mitchell Farrah.
