Lloyd Babb

In his role as the New South Wales Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Lloyd Babb twice oversaw a decision not to prosecute Adrian Attwater and Paul Maris for the sexual assault that led to the death of indigenous woman Lynette Daley. In January 2011, Ms Daley, 33, died from serious injuries during a camping trip on the beach near Iluka, after sex acts were performed on her while she was drunk.[6] Despite NSW police charging Attwater with manslaughter, and Maris as an accessory, the office of the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions dropped both cases before they reached the committal hearing in March 2012. [7] State Coroner Michael Barnes found that there could be "no doubt" that Mr Attwater had inflicted her fatal injuries;[8] however, in November 2015, the NSW DPP declined to prosecute for a second time, sending a letter to Ms Daley's family stating that "There is not enough evidence to establish that Mr Attwater committed the unlawful and dangerous act which led to Lynette's death." The NSW DPP resisted the coroner's recommendations to consider renewing charges against Attwater and Maris, until the intervention of NSW Attorney-General Gabrielle Upton in February 2016. [9] Following the airing of an ABC Four Corners story in May 2016,[10] Mr Babb announced that he had "taken the unusual step of seeking advice from independent counsel,"[11] who would review the decision not to prosecute the two suspects.[12] On 22 June 2016, NSW police confirmed that a 42-year-old man was charged with manslaughter and aggravated sexual assault, and a 46-year-old was charged with accessory after the fact to manslaughter and aggravated sexual assault.[13] Ms Daley's stepfather, Gordon Davies said, "If it wasn't for Four Corners we would have just been swept under the [carpet]."[14]