Australia’s most shocking wrongful prosecutions
One was a cop branded a serial rapist. Another was accused of a nightclub drugging. But these men share one thing in common: they were all innocent.
27 August 2026
NSW Police
9 stories
Police collusion: Judge slams statement sharing
Two NSW Police officers shared witness statements before submitting them as evidence. A judge said it “undermines confidence” in their accounts — then allowed the evidence and ruled the arrest lawful.
15 August 2026
Wrongly convicted
Are Australia’s rape reforms jailing innocent men? NSW costs certificates in sexual assault cases leapt from 28% to 67% in three years — and the men who paid.
5 August 2026
Alleged fake sex abuse scam revealed as multiple people arrested
Police allege a group of “claims farmers” recruited former inmates and public-school students to file fraudulent historical child sexual abuse compensation claims, leading to arrests across Sydney.
13 February 2025
Faked admission of a rape that didn’t happen
A Sydney judge ruled a rape complainant used a rehearsed script to manipulate the accused into an apology he did not believe. The charges were then dropped.
11 February 2024
False rape allegations aren’t so rare
The much-quoted 5 per cent figure comes from a meta-analysis that excluded whole categories of cases. Two Australian researchers put the real rate above 10 per cent.
21 October 2023
‘Terrible nightmare’: Bill Spedding’s seven-year ordeal before $1.48 million payout
Bill Spedding was harassed and ostracised after police laid historical sex charges against him during the William Tyrrell investigation. The NSW Supreme Court found the prosecution was malicious.
1 December 2022
'How dare they': NSW Police officer threatened to break man's legs after unlawful arrest
NSW Police officers threatened to break a man's legs after an unlawful arrest, with the state paying out for their misconduct.
22 September 2020
Exposing the Cost of NSW Police Misconduct: An Interview With David Shoebridge
David Shoebridge on the tens of millions NSW pays out over police misconduct and the culture that protects it.
11 August 2020