ID :
156313
Sat, 01/08/2011 - 10:21
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/156313
The shortlink copeid
Police union wants Walsh St inquest
Victoria's coroner has been urged to hold an inquest into the Walsh Street police
murders after gangland widow Wendy Peirce said she would not reveal what she knows
about them.
Victoria's police union said the coroner has the power to subpoena Ms Peirce, adding
to calls for an inquest from the victims' families and former detective John Noonan,
who investigated the killings.
Ms Peirce has admitted she lied to protect her late husband Victor over his role in
the 1988 killing of constables Steven Tynan and Damian Eyre in Walsh Street, South
Yarra.
But she said this week she would not say so under oath if called to give evidence at
a coronial inquest.
Ms Peirce was to be the star prosecution witness at the 1991 Victorian Supreme Court
murder trial of Victor Peirce, Trevor Pettingill, Peter McEvoy and Anthony Farrell,
but she refused to give evidence.
All four were then acquitted of the ambush killings that shocked Victorians at the
time.
Police Association assistant secretary Bruce McKenzie said on Friday Ms Peirce could
seek immunity from prosecution if she gave evidence at an inquest.
"In our view and in the normal course of events, the coroner would subpoena all of
those who can offer evidence to assist the Coroner's Court to reach an outcome," he
told reporters.
"We hope that the coroner will decide to hold an inquest and that will enable all of
us, the Tynan and Eyre families, the policing family and indeed all Victorians, to
come to a conclusion about what happened to those two police officers on 12 October
1988.
"The murders of Steven Tynan and Damian Eyre does remain an open wound, that open
wound can at least be partially closed with the coroner agreeing to conduct an
inquest."
Police believe the killings were payback for the shooting a day earlier of Victor
Peirce's close friend, Graeme Jensen, by police.
Ms Peirce, whose daughter Katie died of pneumonia in December 2009, aged 24, told
Friday's Herald Sun newspaper: "I liked to protect Victor.
"I want to be left in peace," she said.
"My family and I just need to be left alone to grieve for my daughter."
Damian Eyre's father, Frank Eyre, himself a former policeman, said he did not blame
Ms Peirce for his son's death, but was desperate, as were Steven Tynan's family, for
an inquest and closure.
"I sort of feel that Wendy understands because she's been through the situation
herself," he told Fairfax radio on Friday, adding he had no problem with her getting
immunity.
There were calls for an inquest last year when a NSW court was told Mr McEvoy
allegedly bragged that the sweetest thing he had ever heard was the final words of a
dying constable.
When in opposition, Victoria's coalition government proposed changes to double
jeopardy laws that would allow Mr McEvoy to be re-prosecuted over the killings.
murders after gangland widow Wendy Peirce said she would not reveal what she knows
about them.
Victoria's police union said the coroner has the power to subpoena Ms Peirce, adding
to calls for an inquest from the victims' families and former detective John Noonan,
who investigated the killings.
Ms Peirce has admitted she lied to protect her late husband Victor over his role in
the 1988 killing of constables Steven Tynan and Damian Eyre in Walsh Street, South
Yarra.
But she said this week she would not say so under oath if called to give evidence at
a coronial inquest.
Ms Peirce was to be the star prosecution witness at the 1991 Victorian Supreme Court
murder trial of Victor Peirce, Trevor Pettingill, Peter McEvoy and Anthony Farrell,
but she refused to give evidence.
All four were then acquitted of the ambush killings that shocked Victorians at the
time.
Police Association assistant secretary Bruce McKenzie said on Friday Ms Peirce could
seek immunity from prosecution if she gave evidence at an inquest.
"In our view and in the normal course of events, the coroner would subpoena all of
those who can offer evidence to assist the Coroner's Court to reach an outcome," he
told reporters.
"We hope that the coroner will decide to hold an inquest and that will enable all of
us, the Tynan and Eyre families, the policing family and indeed all Victorians, to
come to a conclusion about what happened to those two police officers on 12 October
1988.
"The murders of Steven Tynan and Damian Eyre does remain an open wound, that open
wound can at least be partially closed with the coroner agreeing to conduct an
inquest."
Police believe the killings were payback for the shooting a day earlier of Victor
Peirce's close friend, Graeme Jensen, by police.
Ms Peirce, whose daughter Katie died of pneumonia in December 2009, aged 24, told
Friday's Herald Sun newspaper: "I liked to protect Victor.
"I want to be left in peace," she said.
"My family and I just need to be left alone to grieve for my daughter."
Damian Eyre's father, Frank Eyre, himself a former policeman, said he did not blame
Ms Peirce for his son's death, but was desperate, as were Steven Tynan's family, for
an inquest and closure.
"I sort of feel that Wendy understands because she's been through the situation
herself," he told Fairfax radio on Friday, adding he had no problem with her getting
immunity.
There were calls for an inquest last year when a NSW court was told Mr McEvoy
allegedly bragged that the sweetest thing he had ever heard was the final words of a
dying constable.
When in opposition, Victoria's coalition government proposed changes to double
jeopardy laws that would allow Mr McEvoy to be re-prosecuted over the killings.
