Jubelin
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- Category: Uncategorised
- Created: Monday, 10 February 2020 10:49
- Written by Alecomm2
Gary Jubelin takes stand to defend himself
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EXCLUSIVE
It is a risky move and therefore not out of character: former NSW homicide detective Gary Jubelin has decided to testify in his own defence at his trial this week.
Mr Jubelin, 57, is facing charges related to his handling of the investigation into one of Australia’s most baffling crimes: the disappearance of three-year-old foster child William Tyrrell.
He believes enemies within the NSW Police Force are trying to make him a scapegoat for the failure of the investigation, and he is determined to take the stand to defend himself.
In a related headache for the police force, Mr Jubelin’s legal team also intends to call the current head of the NSW homicide squad, Detective Superintendent Scott Cook, and former head of homicide, assistant commissioner Mick Willing, who only last month was chosen to oversee the NSW bushfire recovery effort.
Mr Jubelin worked for both men, and is likely to say that both always knew exactly where his focus lay.
“Jubelin is not taking this lying down. He’s coming out swinging,” said one observer, who did not want to be named while the case was under way.
William disappeared from the NSW mid-north coast village of Kendall in 2014.
The trial of Mr Jubelin has exposed deep divisions within the homicide squad over the direction and focus of the investigations, with detectives at once desperate but also at odds over how to solve the case.
Mr Jubelin, a skilled kickboxer and martial arts expert, has been accused of bullying, intimidating and belittling junior staff.
He is formally charged with four offences under the Surveillance Devices Act, related to his decision to record four conversations with an elderly person of interest, Paul Savage.
The crown says the warrant for three of those conversations did not cover Mr Jubelin’s mobile phone. It was for bugs on Mr Savage’s house, landline and mobile only. On the fourth occasion, the warrant had expired. All four conversations have been played to the court.
Mr Jubelin occasionally displays a hyper-aggressive interrogation style; at other times he is as gentle as a kitten.
His decision to testify is pugnacious, perilous but also potentially genius.
He is determined to defend his time at the helm of the investigation; he is also expected to tell the court that he used his phone only as a back-up, because the police equipment, in the form of bugs in Mr Savage’s house, produced poor quality recordings.
Mr Savage has never been charged with any crime related to William’s disappearance, and there is no evidence to link him to the mystery.
The trial has provided his former colleagues with an opportunity to criticise Mr Jubelin’s decisions, especially his focus on Mr Savage, at the expense of other suspects, closer to William.
The inner workings of the homicide squad have also been exposed, with Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Dukes agreeing that the investigation, while high-profile, was also chronically under-resourced and “often thousands of pieces of information behind” with “thousands of investigative notes” and possible tips and sightings not followed up, as well as “days and days and weeks’ worth of surveillance device material” not listened to.
