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A legislator from NSW has utilized legislative immunity to disclose the name of a man earlier charged in connection to the alleged abduction and murder of UK-born young girl Cheryl Grimmer fifty-five years ago.

Vanishing at Fairy Meadow Beach

The young girl vanished from near a shower block while with her mother and three older brothers at the seaside in the Illawarra region of NSW on 12 January 1970.

Court Case and Pseudonym

The man, known under the alias “Mercury,” underwent a trial in 2018 after entering not guilty. However, the proceedings collapsed when a justice ruled that a 1971 interrogation where he admitted to the murder was inadmissible.

Mercury made the alleged confession, which was the cornerstone of the crown’s case, when he was 17 years old and still a minor under state law, and less than 18 months after the child vanished.

Parliamentary Revelation

On Thursday, Jeremy Buckingham disclosed the name of Mercury while shielded under parliamentary privilege.

The media outlet is choosing not to name the individual. The man could not lawfully be publicly identified during the trial because he was just fifteen at the time of the alleged offending.

Legislative Intervention

Before Buckingham disclosing the name, the speaker of the upper house of NSW, Ben Franklin, interrupted him. He inquired if the member was about to reveal the name, which is currently required to be suppressed by legal order.

Franklin said: “Can I just point out before you proceed under privilege, a legislator is shielded from the consequences which would otherwise result from breaching a court order of this kind, which could otherwise amount to a contempt of court.”

“However, all members have the obligation to use their immunity responsibly, and this house can take measures against members who are deemed by the assembly to have misused this right. The comity between the parliament and the judiciary should not be treated lightly, and I urge the representative to consider these matters carefully before continuing.”

Relatives Demand

The revelation of the man’s identity has occurred after Grimmer’s family gave an extraordinary demand to the man last week – agree to meet with them by midnight Wednesday or the MP would reveal his identity in the legislature.

They also revealed a file which holds the admission the suspect made when he was seventeen, as stated by Buckingham.

Investigation Revived

Police reopened the case after a 2011 inquest finding determined that Grimmer was deceased and advised that authorities reinvestigate.

The suspect was taken into custody in March 2018, and was then in his sixties. He was freed a later after the interrogation was declared inadmissible.

In its absence, the NSW director of public prosecutions found there was insufficient proof for the case to continue.

Admission Particulars

During the court case, the tribunal heard that during an interview with police in the early 1970s, the accused had admitted to murdering Grimmer, informing police he had intended to have “sexual relations” with the child before reportedly killing her.

Legal Decision

But the judge decided the interview could not be used as proof in the case.

In his ruling in the high court, the justice said the interview was inadmissible because of the way in which it was conducted and the specific susceptibility of the defendant at the time.

“Neither a guardian, grown-up or lawyer was in attendance at any point of the police interview,” the judge said.

He heard testimony from two psychiatrists who concurred that the teenager had a low intelligence, was immature and more at-risk than the typical teenager.

Background of the Defendant

The court heard the suspect had a difficult connection with his family, a record of fleeing from home, relocating internationally, low intellect and restricted schooling.

The crown argued that at the time of the interview, there were no compulsory rules or guidelines for an adult support person to be there when interviewing minors.

The other evidence before the judge was made up of contemporaneous records and documents from the early seventies, derived from his interaction with the youth legal system.