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Rough Justice: Unanswered Questions from the Australian Courts
Robin Bowles 2007 - Five Mile Press ISBN 9781741786606 - $24-95 AUD paperback October 2007

Reviewed by: Dr Robert N Moles

At first glance this book appears to be just another compilation of Australian justice cases: Jennifer Tanner, the little boy from Moe, Graham Stafford, Henry Keogh, Roseanne Catt. But, as soon as you begin to get into it, you can immediately sense the difference from those run-of-the-mill books. Indeed, Robin Bowles is an author with a difference. Instead of just recycling stories, Robin actually gets out there and makes them distinctively her own. For each one of these cases, Robin has travelled to where they happened and interviewed the people involved.

The difference comes through in her analysis of each of the cases. Having been there and spoken to the people involved, Robin has been able to discern the key issues in each of the cases she deals with. She sets out those issues for the reader in an interesting and compelling fashion. But for me, the key ingredient is the way in which Robin adds her own texture and colour to the cases; her own light and shade.

Obviously, I have a particular interest in some of these issues. I have worked on the cases of Henry Keogh and Roseanne Catt, each one of which is dealt with in this book. Having been very closely involved with the Keogh case for some years now, I was interested to see what Robin's take on it would be like. First of all, I was relieved to see that the information she has provided to the reader is "accurate". This might strike some people as a fairly banal point to make. After all, why shouldn't it be? However, to those of us who are closely involved in such cases, we become accustomed to reporters and authors getting it "nearly right" but "not quite". For many of these 'as yet unresolved' cases, the additional coverage of the case can be helpful; but it usually comes at a price. Any inaccuracy in the contemporary account can sometimes set things back nearly as much as they bring them forward. This is why I usually pick up such books and articles with some degree of trepidation.

I was therefore very relieved when I realised that Robin had not only accurately portrayed the issues in the Keogh case, but had focused on what were clearly emerging as the key issues in the current legal proceedings. However, above that I was interested to see that Robin also brought an extra element to the story. She is not just a good story teller, but also a good person. She gives her personal view about the characters involved and how she weighed them up. You can clearly see from each of the chapters that she has met and talked with the people involved, and that she has come away from the interaction with something uniquely her own, which she then shares with her readers.

What particularly impressed me with Robin's visit to South Australia, and to Henry Keogh, was the way in which she brought other key players into her account. Much of the enlivening of the tragedy of the Keogh case has always seemed to me to be the role of the media. It seems that there are many in the media who like stories of tragedy and murder, but who lack the capacity to engage with the more complex issues of institutional error.

Because of my closeness to the case, I have realised over the last six or so years, that the vast majority of journalists are unable, for whatever reasons, to stay with a story over any length of time. In my experience there are a few outstanding exceptions. Sally Neighbour with ABC 4 Corners is one of the best. In my opinion, Graham Archer with Channel 7 Today Tonight (Adelaide) is "the best". He has developed and sustained an interest in the Keogh case, well beyond anything I could have anticipated. He has put to air programs which have had to be prepared at short notice - with consummate skill. He has been battered and beaten by the politicians who disapprove of his take on their deeds. He has also, undoubtedly, been subjected to financial pressures through defamation actions taken in relation to some of the things which he and others have said.

Now, I know some of these things because I have worked closely with him over those six years. I didn't necessarily think that it would be that apparent to someone who is just doing a 'quick review' of the case, amongst a good many others. However, in Robin's telling of the tale, she did pick up on that element of the story and explained some of those interesting elements of it, not covered anywhere else. However, she then came back to that issue in a later chapter of her book called "Knights of the Media". Here, Robin explains for the reader the particular elements in the mix which often cause the more faint hearted to look elsewhere. Yet, she also explains the particular aspects of integrity, professionalism and intestinal fortitude which are required not to look elsewhere. As Robin correctly points out, Sally Neighbour has it and Graham Archer has it (in spades). Of course, in taking the time out from her story telling on the particular cases, to cover this point, Robin also demonstrates that whatever "it" is - she has it too.

I found it to be a particular pleasure to be able to work with Robin on this part of her research tour for this book. It has been professionally satisfying to see what she has done with the vast array of materials she has been able to get together. Certainly, this is one of the most interesting and thought provoking books in its class.

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