Chief prosecutor surrenders

The judge made it very clear he was unhappy with the way the case panned out by imposing a relatively low 3-year sentence and by allowing an appeal bail application (rare in these circumstances) which he insisted on handling himself.

How ironic that this impressive young Chinese scholar experienced this farcical miscarriage of justice in what is supposed to be an exemplary Western democracy.

After three months living through a nightmare at Sydney's tough Parklea prison, Andrew is now out on bail, awaiting his appeal. In the meantime, he has to travel three hours a day to university, before returning to report for daily parole.

I recently spent a day with this impressive young man, listening to him describe his shocking ordeal. The terror of being locked up, and immediately warned by older prisoners of the risks of other prisoners learning he was a sex offender. They coached him in how to pretend he was a drug mule or money launderer in order to protect himself. He did eventually manage to connect with some of his fellow prisoners and learn their stories.

Plenty of unmeritorious cases there, from what Andrew discovered. Like the 19-year-old falsely accused of rape by his stepmother so she could take over his deceased father's estate. Or the 70-year-old factory worker who was accused by his stepson of raping his granddaughter. The evidence was so unconvincing in that case that the judge told the court she could not see how the guilty verdict was reasonable.

Then there was the doctor accused of fingering a patient with dementia. Despite expert evidence that such accusations aren't unusual in such patients, the doctor first had a hung jury and then was convicted during retrial.

A landscaper in his late twenties was accused of 8 counts of historic sexual abuse involving his cousin, dating back 16 years to when they were both children. A long-term family feud played out in court, with the judge warning the jury about the numerous inconsistencies in the evidence. He was convicted on all 8 counts – but interestingly, the judge then sentenced him to only a year's imprisonment; a sentence which clearly indicated what the judge thought of the verdict.

For all the judges' talk about unmeritorious cases unlikely to convince a jury, the fact is that many of our juries are sending innocent men to prison - even when the evidence doesn't stack up. Understandably, jury members might believe that the mere fact that somebody is presented for trial for a sexual offence means that they are most likely guilty, a belief informed by their confidence that all the evidence has been thoroughly scrutinized and that the prosecuting authority is convinced of the guilt of the accused.

No wonder there's a growing feeling of disquiet in sections of our judiciary about working in a system where the presumption of innocence is under siege.