ANDREW CLENNELL, NET FIFE-YEOMANS & SIMON BENSON THEhead of1CAC metce- to-face with the Director of Public Prosecutions before the corruption body's announcement it would be referring Deputy Senior Crown Prosecutor largaret Cunneen to the DPP to con- sider charges against her. \hile ICAC announced yesterday i t had referred Ms Cunneen to the OPP to con- sider charges against her o f attempting to pervert the course of justice and giving false evidence. The Daily Telegraph can reveal that despite having distanced herself from the inquiry, ICAC head Megan Latham met personally with OPP Lloyd Babb on the n1atter. The extraordinary move to refer the matter came de- spite the High Court ruling a month agothat lCAC had no jurisdiction to investigate ls Cunneen over allegations she attempted to perve1t the course of justice at the scene of a car accident. The corruption commis- sion had alleged Ms Cun- neen advised her son's girliend, Sophia Tilley, to ke c h es t pai. ns at the scene of car accident last May, allegedly to avoid a breath test. Ms Tilley, a P-plater, was later found to have a zero blood alcohol reading om a blood test at hospital. Ms Cunneen has vigor- ously denied the a llegat i on. The landmark decision by the naon's highest court centred on how "corrupt conduc, as defined by the ICAC Act "adversely affects ... the exercise of official func- tions by any public official". It also prompted NSW Prem- ier Mike Baird to launch legislative changes to protect JCAC's previous findings. lCAC said in a statement released yesterday morning that the allegation against s Cunneen originated from "a federal law enforce- n1ent agency". THURSDAY MAY 28 2015 DAIL YTELEGRAPH.COM.AU It understood the allega- tion emerged from a tele- phone intercept as part of a joint Australian Federal Police-Australian Crime Commission investigation urelated to Ms Cunneen. The allegation was referred from ICAC to the DPP rather than the NSW police, with sources suggesting there was a belief police may be too close to Ms Cunneen to prop- erly investigate. Legal sources s aid that as a result of the High Coutt ruling that lCAC had no power to investigate Ms Cunneen, there is a question on whether the commission can use any evidence it claims to have and hand it to another law en- forcement agency. Neither agency would comment other than to say: "This is a 1natter for the NSW ICAC and the NSW DPP.'' lCAC's statement yester- day said: "Since the NSW parliament passed the Independent Commission Against Corn1pt i on Amend- ment (Validation) Act 2015 earlier this month (following the Cunneen decision), the (rCAC) has been considering its inc omplete investigations to deterine what, if any, action it should take with each outstanding matter. "The comnuss10n has determined tQ provide the '' Today, the Commission has furnished at evidence to the O for consideration of wheer chars of attempti to peivert the urse of jtice andving false evidee the Commission a available against Ms Cunneen, '' The commi ssion is of th� view tha t it Is in the pubhc interest that the resolut ion of the aUegatio ns again st Ms Cunnee n. Mr Wyllie and Ms Tilley ought not '' Jn . a �dition to considering cnm1 nal of fences. it may be necessary for the DPP to consider whet her disciplinary proceedings shoul d be taken against Ms Cunneen. Stephen Wyllie and Sophia Tilley. be further delayed . - - DAILYTELEGRAPH.COM.AU THUDAY MAY 28 2015 evidence it has obtained in Operation Hale (involving Ms Cunneen) to the NSW Direc- tor of Public Prosecutions." The statement said lCAC conferred with the OPP on May 19 on tbe refetTal of t h e evidence, however it is un- clear whether this is when Mr Babb and Ms Latham met. "Today, the commission has fun1ished that evi d ence to the DPP for consideration of whether charges of attempting to perve the course of justice and giving false evidence to the com- mission are available against Ms Cunneen, Stephen Wyl- lie and Sophia Tilley,., the statement continued. "The comm1Ss1on has decided to take this step for the following reasons. "The con1mission under- took an investigation into the alleged conduct of Ms Cunneen, Mr Wyllie and Ms Tilley after i t was provided with information by a federal law enrce1nent agency that indicated the con1n1ission of an attempt to pervert the course of justice by Ms Cun- neen, a NSW deputy senior crown prosecutor, following a motor vehicle accident on 31 May2014. "It was accepted by the courts which examined the allegation in t he course of tbe litigation lnitiated by Ms Cunneen that the alleged conduct could constitute an attempt to peert the course of justice. "Any attempt to pervert the course of justice by sen- ior counsel, whether in the course of that person's duties or otherwise, strikes at t he heart of the administration of justice. The commission is of the view that it is in the public interest that the resol- ution of the allegations against 1s Cunneen, Mr Wyllie and Ms Tilley ought not further delayed. "The commission is unabJe to finalise its investigation in Operation Hale as a result of t he decision of the High Comt in lCAC v Cunneen & Ors ... obtained on or before 15 April 2015. Moreover, the pending review of the !CAC Act wiU not be con1pleted before 11July2015." The state1nent said the commission's referral "all- ows for the appointment of an appropriately qualified in- dependent person from out- side NSW" to investigate if the DPP saw a conflict of interest. "In addition to consider- ing criminal offences, it may be necessary for the OPP to consider whether disciplin- ary pr,oceeclings should be ten against Ms Cunneen. According ly, the DPP is t he most ap propriat e agency for the referral of the material." Ms Cunneen, who was into the second day of a murder trial after re- turning from leave on Monday, di d not return calls. Law- yers questioned why ICAC had ferred �ls the n1at- ter to the OPP when it is the police who carr y out critn i- nal invtigations. "Ct's wrong," one senior lawyer said. "The DPP doesn't investigate." A si:1okes- woman for the OPP said no decisioo garding the referral had been tnade.
ANDREW CLENNELL, JANET FIFE-YEOMANS & SIMON BENSON
THEhead of1CAC metfaceto-face with the Director of Public
Prosecutions before the corruption body's announcement it would be
referring Deputy Senior Crown Prosecutor tvlargaret Cunneen to the
DPP to consider charges against her.
\iVhile ICAC announced yesterday it had referred Ms Cunneen to
the OPP to consider charges against her of attempting to pervert
the course of justice and giving false evidence. The Daily
Telegraph can reveal that
despite having distanced herself from the inquiry, ICAC head
Megan Latham met personally with OPP Lloyd Babb on the n1atter.
The extraordinary move to refer the matter came despite the High
Court ruling a month agothat lCAC had no jurisdiction to
investigate tvls Cunneen over allegations she attempted to perve1t
the course of justice at the scene of a car accident.
The corruption commission had alleged Ms Cunneen advised her
son's girlfriend, Sophia Tilley, to fake ch est pai.ns at the scene
of
