-
Watch Video
-
Related
Five judges in the Supreme Court have now ruled the public can hear what the jury in the Bain trial was never allowed to, four words so controversial they were ruled inadmissible.
The Crown says you can hear the words "I shot the prick" on David Bain's 111 phone call, but even Defence and Crown experts agree, there are no clear words there at all.
It seems the Bain court case at the High Court in Christchurch was just the tip of the iceberg.
Before the retrial got underway, there were many legal arguments with both the Defence and Crown arguing over what witnesses could give evidence and then what they were allowed to say.
Now it can be revealed that there was more to the 111 call Bain made on the day of his family's murder.
Fifty-seven seconds of the call was played, but the jury never heard it all, and the contents of it are still hotly disputed.
When Bain's retrial was ordered, police relistened to the call on more sophisticated equipment and heard the words.
Crown and defence experts analysed the call, and none could determine what, if anything, was said.
However the High Court and the Court of Appeal were going to allow the full tape to be played for the jury to decide but just before the trial the Supreme Court ruled it inadmissible, not relevant and not reliable.
During the trial, the ambulance officer who took the call gave evidence, but nothing was said about the missing seconds of the call.
Further suppression lifted
Another suppression order on a claim David Bain was planning a sex crime in the years before his family was murdered, has also been lifted.
It has been revealed the jury in Bain's retrial was not allowed to hear evidence from a school friend, who says he was told in 1989 or 1990 that he had taken an interest in a female jogger and had worked out a way to commit a sexual offence against her, using his paper round to provide an alibi.
Another friend claims to have had a similar conversation.
Joe Karam reaction
Long time supporter Joe Karam says police wanted to believe Bain said "I shot the prick" in his 111 call.
He gave a press conference on Thursday afternoon, saying police were desperate for evidence, which led them to put weight on things that weren't really there.
Meanwhile, Crown Law says neither the prosecution nor the police ever offered Bain a plea bargain.
The issue has come up after Karam told the media conference that concessions were offered more that once during the retrial. Karam wouldn't be drawn on the details, only saying that such conversations often taken place in an informal way between counsel.
He says Bain's lawyer, Michael Reed QC, came to him several times during the trial saying the Crown was offering a possible plea bargain.
Crown Law says it never approached the defence with a deal.
