Qld: Hytch s family calls for case to be "quashed"

AAP General News (Australia)
08-04-2000
Qld: Hytch s family calls for case to be "quashed"

By Ainsley Pavey and Suzanne Klotz

BRISBANE, Aug 4 AAP - The family of jailed Bowen surf lifesaver Robert Hytch has called
for his case to be dropped following a successful appeal against his nine-year jail term
today.

The 27-year-old is expected to be released from Townsville Correctional Centre next
week after the Court of Appeal overturned his conviction for the manslaughter of Bowen
schoolgirl Rachel Antonio and ordered a retrial.

Rachel was 16 when she disappeared from Bowen in North Queensland on ANZAC day in 1998
and her body has never been found, despite extensive searches.

In a detailed statement released today, Hytch's parents continued to proclaim their
son's innocence, but attacked the justice system and police.

"We are disappointed that the appeals court did not quash the case altogether," parents
Paul and Sheila Hytch said in the statement.

"We are pleased, however, that it is to be retried ... we are sad that Rachel's parents
are still none the wiser regarding their daughter's fate and implore the parliament to
make the police do their job in a professional manner."

Mr Hytch later told AAP that his son - who has spent nine months in a maximum security
cell - was relieved after learning of the appeal court decision early today.

"We can't get in contact with him ... the barrister's doing an application for bail
next week, but we have a little way to go yet," Mr Hytch said.

Hytch was arrested on a murder charge on December 30, 1998, eight months after Rachel
disappeared.

After a 17-day Townsville Supreme Court trial in October last year, the labourer was
found guilty of manslaughter, but acquitted of murder.

During the trial before Justice Kerry Cullinane, the Crown argued he had been in a
"clandestine relationship" for some time with Rachel and broke it off, telling her he
had another girl pregnant in Western Australia.

It was alleged that on the night Rachel disappeared she intended to meet him and make
a false claim that she was pregnant, in order to get $350 from him.

The Crown contended that something happened during the course of that meeting which
resulted in her death at the hands of Hytch.

Queensland Lawyer Journal editor and leading Townsville barrister Grant Riethmuller
described Hytch's case as "terribly tragic for everyone".

He said it bore similarities to the Lindy Chamberlain case and that Hytch was unlikely
to receive a fair trial in the future.

"Like Chamberlain's case ... it's easy for people to fall into the trap that it is
a clear-cut case as if it is a television thriller," Mr Reithmuller said.

"It was solely a circumstantial case. There was no direct evidence of him ... hitting
or killing her ... there is just the fact that she's gone missing ... we're not talking
about someone who has any previous convictions ... we're talking about someone who has
had a fruitful and respectable position in the community.

"It's a terrible imposition on him if he's acquitted. It's a terrible tragedy for everybody,
this case."

Justice Ken Mackenzie, who was among three judges on the appeal panel, quashed the
conviction on the grounds the trial judge fell short in directing the jury on circumstantial
evidence.

He said the evidence that Hytch's car broke down on the night should be rejected as
a strand, not a link in the chain of evidence.

As for DNA evidence of Rachel's blood on Hytch's shoe, the court would need to "consider
possible explanations" other than it getting there on the evening she disappeared, the
judgment said.

The full bench agreed there was sufficient evidence for the trial to go ahead before
a jury and supported the trial judge's decision to refuse to take the case away from the
jury.

"In the upshot, this was a weak circumstantial Crown case," Justice Bob Douglas said.

"The jury was not satisfied that (Hytch) killed Rachel either intending to kill her
or to do her grievous bodily harm. The verdict of manslaughter appears to smack of compromise."

AAP ap/smk/jhm/was/br

KEYWORD: HYTCH NIGHTLEAD

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