SBS uncovers shocking flaws in investigation of potential gay hate crimes

SBS uncovers shocking flaws in investigation of potential gay hate crimes

Monday 26 September, 2016

News Release

SBS uncovers shocking flaws in investigation of potential gay hate crimes

An exclusive SBS investigation released today has exposed serious flaws in the current police review of potential gay-hate murders among a list of 30 unsolved deaths.

The story behind these cold cases is revealed in a feature article by SBS journalists Rick Feneley and Patrick Abboud, who have uncovered astonishing police blunders.

An SBS investigation has exposed a failure by police to check even basic details for some of the unsolved deaths which are being reviewed currently.

For the first time, the unsolved case of Bill Rooney is brought to light. He died in a Wollongong lane in 1986. Some detectives at the time believed he was murdered. But three decades later, police couldn't find the case. Officers reviewing unsolved deaths dispensed with it in a few lines - as if it didn't exist - because Rooney's name had been misspelt.

Read the full feature now www.sbs.com.au/gayhatedecades

The explosive story continues to unfold on SBS 2's The Feed tonight, Monday 26 September at 7.30pm.

The Feed's Patrick Abboud has secured an exclusive interview with NSW Police Superintendent Tony Crandell, the force's spokesman for sexuality and gender diversity. Crandell makes candid admissions that mistakes may have been made with the gay-hate investigations, and about the police force's attitude towards the LGBTQI community.

If we're being very honest and frank, yes there was homophobia in the NSW police force. Does that subsist today? Probably. - Superintendent Tony Crandell

Watch the trailer above and here

Online, The Gay-Hate Decades: 30 Unsolved Deaths is SBS's interactive true crime site which for the first time goes deeper into these 30 potential gay hate cases in detail never seen before, including the unsolved case of Bill Rooney.

Presenting the 30 stories side by side for the first time, the public can research and explore the unsolved cases for themselves in an interactive format.

The site features innovative drone and photographic material mapping out locations across Sydney which are the epicentres of these cases - the locations where bodies were found.

Visit the site here www.sbs.com.au/gayhatedecades

Listed as iTunes Best Podcasts of 2015, SBS's True Stories podcast returns with a five-part investigation into the untold stories of Adelaides gay-hate murders.

Each episode explores the intriguing circumstances of an unsolved case, told by award-winning Australian investigative journalist and writer, Mark Whittaker, whose full investigation will be published online at the end of the series.

The True Stories podcast launches Tuesday 4 October.

Listen to, share, and embed the preview here: https://soundcloud.com/sbs-true-stories/season-3-preview

SBS's Deep Water also includes a feature-length documentary Deep Water - The Real Story premiering Sunday 16 October, 8.30pm on SBS, and a new four-part fictional crime drama Deep Water inspired by these events airs over two big weeks, starting Wednesday, 5 October, 8.30pm.

The four-part series and documentary will also be available after broadcast, anytime, on your favourite streaming device, SBS On Demand.

Join the conversation: #DeepWater

sbs.com.au/deepwater Twitter: @SBS | facebook.com/SBSAustralia | Instagram: sbs_australia

LINK:	http://www.sbs.com.au/aboutus/news-media-releases/view/id/1273/h/SBS-u...
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