By John McKechnie AO, KC
What does a bottle of Napoleon Brandy and a huge storm have in common?
Read on, gentleperson and you shall see.
At the end of a hard day’s work outside in the heat, most Australians like to kick back with a beer or two, or may be a soothing scotch and soda.
Well, Golgie Kelly had been working hard and thought he was entitled to a drink.
That sense of entitlement earned him nine months in the slammer.
You see, the day Golgie was working was not just any day, it was a couple of days after Christmas Day. And it wasn’t any old Christmas Day either, it was Christmas Day 1974 in Darwin.
On that Christmas Day, cyclone Tracy struck in all its fury, killed 71 people and caused $837 million damage. More than 70% of all buildings were destroyed.
The federal government swung into crisis mode and sent Major General Alan Stretton to take charge. The Governor General, Sir John Kerr, declared a state of emergency and invested General Stretton with full powers.
Federal public servants, including police officers, flew into Darwin to help with relief efforts.
Even the local gaols were emptied as prisoners joined in the clean-up in difficult conditions and sweltering heat.
And so we return to Golgie who was one such prisoner.
At day’s end, feeling in need of a tipple, Golgie approached Mr Lionel Fernandez at Casuarina High School being used as an evacuation centre. Mr Kelly told Mr Fernandez that he was Sergeant Detective Walker of the Commonwealth Police and that he was here to requisition all liquor and sprits at the school. Mr Fernandez, who may have been somewhat credulous, believed Mr Kelly who departed with a bottle of whiskey and a bottle of Napoleon brandy, value $12.
Mr Kelly was soon apprehended and charged with impersonating a police officer and obtaining property by false pretences.
So it was that Mr Kelly appeared before the chief magistrate on 30 December 1974. Darwin was still in chaos, though order was slowly being restored and repairs made. But the majesty of justice continued unaffected.
The chief magistrate took a serious view of the offence, perhaps worried about looting and lawlessness, and sentenced Golgie Kelly to nine months imprisonment.
And that was that.
Well, not exactly. Major General Stretton was told of the facts and the sentence. He immediately strode into the court house, sent his compliments to the chief magistrate and declared the court closed.
The magistrate, who was hearing another case at the time looked surprised, and adjourned that case to speak with General Stretton.
Subsequently, both men met with Chief Justice Forster, following which General Stretton apologised for his actions, proving once again that the pen really is mightier than the sword.
Back we go to Golgie Kelly who instituted an appeal with the redoubtable Ian Barker as his counsel. Persuasive though he was, the appeal judge would have none of it.
At a time when police from other parts of Australia were being flown into Darwin, at a time when some were in clothes which did not really identify them as police officers, it was surely important to discourage persons from seeking personal gain or advantage by passing themselves off as persons vested with police power and authority.
Nor did Mr Barker’s argument, that it was a childlike ruse and that the whole transaction had a faintly absurd tint, find any traction.
So despite the drama which Mr Kelly’s sentence had first created with accounts of it published throughout the world, he remained in prison to finish his term.
And the world moved on.
The Chief Magistrate, Mr David McCann, left the Northern Territory shortly thereafter, settled in Western Australia becoming a Magistrate and in due course, Coroner.
On his retirement in 1996, the Attorney General, Peter Foss, paid tribute to his dedication to WA’s coronial service and for the teaching role he played in the development of the Australian Coroner’s Society.
Mr McCann contributed, albeit perhaps unintentionally, to the development of the concept of procedural fairness as the respondent in Annetts v McCann (1990) 170 CLR 596.
The Appeal Judge, James Muirhead, AC, KStj, QC, encountered Mr Barker again when Mr Barker, QC prosecuted the case of The Queen v Alice Lynne Chamberlain, the details of which are as well-known as Cyclone Tracy.
He relocated to Perth and became a Royal Commissioner into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, later returning to the Northern Territory for a time as Administrator.
Nothing can be found as to what became of Golgie Kelly, notwithstanding his moment of world fame.
(Adapted from Kelly v Brooks (1975) NTJ 927)
