Nearly a third of 88 suspicious deaths recorded in New South Wales between 1976 and 2000 have now been linked to gay-hate bias, according to the findings of a landmark new study.
NSW Police Strike Force Parrabell reviewed the deaths, which had been noted for their potential association with gay-hate bias by academics, and confirmed that eight cases were the result of crimes motivated by homophobia or hatred of the broader LGBTQIA+ community.
Another 19 deaths were suspected to be the result of crimes spurred by a gay-hate bias. Of those 27 deaths, five remain unsolved.
Investigators could not determine a gay-hate bias in 25 cases, due to a lack of evidence available to assign a clear gay-hate motive. The remaining 34 cases were not found to have involved a homophobic bias.
Two of the 88 cases were removed from the study; one death did not occur in NSW, while there was not enough evidence to accurately review another.
In total, 23 of the reviewed deaths remain unsolved.
The review, which began in 2015, was conducted to address NSW Police’s alleged history of homophobic bias in its investigation of suspicious deaths.
NSW Police has previously been accused of inadequately investigating deaths suspected of being related to gay-hate crimes, and of actively participating in violence against homosexual men.
Cases like that of Scott Johnson – whose 1988 death was initially listed by police as a suicide, before a 2017 coronial inquest found he died as the result of a gay-hate crime – put pressure on NSW Police to reassess its stance on those suspicious deaths.
In a statement, Assistant Commissioner Tony Crandell said “We undertook this review knowing we can’t change the past, but we can shape our future, and this needed to be done to acknowledge what has happened and make sure it can’t happen again.”
Assistant Commissioner Crandell said that although academics at Flinders University disputed some of Strike Force Parabell’s findings, it “is clear is that there were certainly people murdered because of their sexuality during this time.”
12 recommendations laid down by the report, including revised police training and bias assessment tools, will be implemented by NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller.
In addition, The Sydney Morning Herald reports it is likely Assistant Commissioner Crandell will discuss the possibility of a formal apology with Commissioner Fuller.
You can read a summary of the findings and recommendations HERE.
