Mercury
THE figures at the centre of police investigations into judicial appointments said they had been vindicated yesterday. Steve Kons was forced to resign as deputy premier in April after shredded documents revealed he had misled Parliament over his intention to appoint Simon Cooper as a magistrate. Mr Kons welcomed the recommendation by the Director of Public Prosecutions Tim Ellis that no charges be laid in relation to the matter.
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Mr Ellis also found no charges could be laid in relation to allegations lawyer Stephen Estcourt was promised the position of Solicitor-General in return for representing former deputy premier Bryan Green in court. Mr Estcourt’s lawyer, Peter Barker, said the allegations had been proven to be “a baseless and wicked piece of rumour mongering”. “It was quite impossible to conceive of Stephen Estcourt being involved with any wrongdoing associated with appointments,” Mr Barker said. “I remain concerned about how vulnerable hard-won professional reputations are to gossip peddlers.” Read more here
