Court finds murder case against Geeves couple was doomed from the start
Supreme Court found the Geeves prosecution was fundamentally flawed and unreasonable, letting them recover legal costs.
More than two decades after 19-year-old Amber Haigh went missing near Young, a NSW Supreme Court judge found the case against Anne and Robert Geeves was foredoomed to fail. The couple was arrested in 2022 and acquitted after a judge-alone trial in 2024.
Justice Julia Lonergan ruled the prosecution had been unreasonable and granted certificates allowing them to recover defence costs. The judge identified two major flaws.
First, police presented evidence from a man who claimed to have seen Ms Haigh at a petrol station with the Geeves, but police knew before trial the timing didn't match June 2002. Second, recordings from listening devices in the Geeves' home and car were misrepresented as containing admissions.
The judge called the witness prosecution a desperate attempt that failed.
- June 2002
- Disappearance date
- 2022, more than 20 years later
- Arrest year
- 19 years old, mother of five-month-old
- Amber Haigh age
- Judge-alone trial in 2024
- Acquittal timing
Why it mattersThe Geeves can now seek reimbursement for decades of legal costs after spending more than 20 years under suspicion for a crime the court said should never have been prosecuted.
AustraliaThis ruling affects NSW criminal law and sets a precedent for how police evidence must be treated in prosecution of cold cases. It also offers potential closure to a case that has haunted a regional NSW community for nearly a quarter-century.
✓ Claims checked against the source. checked 21 h ago
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