Queensland’s ‘gay panic’ defence to be scrapped
Queensland's Attorney-General hopes to introduce an amendment to scrap the so-called "gay panic defence" into parliament by the end of the year.
The Queensland government hopes to introduce changes to scrap the state’s so-called “gay panic” defence into parliament by the end of the year.
Under current Queensland legislation, accused murderers can use unwanted sexual advances as a partial defence.
The defence has been used twice in the sunshine state in recent years, including in the case of Richard John Meerdink and Jason Andrew Pearce.
The duo was jailed for the 2008 manslaughter of Wayne Robert Ruks in after bashing him in the grounds of a Maryborough church.
A defendant invokes the “gay panic defence” by relying on claims of provocation under section 304 of the state’s criminal code, allowing for a charge of murder to be downgraded to manslaughter.
Read more at www.sbs.com.au
Photo by Benson Kua [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons