Criminal penalty 10½ years Criminal status released | Name Terry Lewis Role Police officer | |
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Born 29 February 1928 (age 96) ( 1928-02-29 ) Spouse Hazel Catherine Lewis (m. 1952–2009) | ||
Terence Murray "Terry" Lewis GM (born 29 February 1928) is a former Queensland Police Commissioner who was convicted and jailed for corruption and forgery as a result of the Fitzgerald Inquiry. He was stripped of his knighthood and two other awards in consequence.
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Lewis has continued to protest his innocence, and sued his former lawyers and pursued appeals. However his appeals failed in August 2005.
History
Lewis was inducted as a police officer in 1949. As a senior constable, Lewis was in charge of the Juvenile Aid Bureau. He was implicated in the National Hotel scandal. Lewis was also a close associate of the corrupt former Police Commissioner Francis Bischof and was allegedly one of his bagmen. Informant, Shirley Brifman, said: "the collect boys were Lewis, Murphy and Hallahan. That went to Bischof ". Former Royal Commissioner, Donald Stewart, observed that in 1976, Lewis "was plucked from well-deserved obscurity by [Premier] Bjelke-Petersen to be his vassal, to do his bidding, lawful or otherwise". Initially, Lewis was promoted to the rank of Assistant Police Commissioner to Ray Whitrod, however, Whitrod refused to work with him and resigned in protest when Bjelke-Petersen insisted on Lewis's appointment. Lewis served as Police Commissioner from 1978 to 1987, receiving a knighthood, but was dismissed by police minister Bill Gunn in September 1987.
By 1980, Detective Jack Herbert had become Lewis' bagman, but he later became a major informant against Lewis and others at the Fitzgerald Inquiry. Assistant Commissioner Graeme Parker also confessed to corruption and implicated Lewis on 16 September 1987. Following the end of the Fitzgerald Inquiry, Lewis was charged in 1989 with 23 counts of perjury, corruption, and forgery. After hearing evidence over five months, and having deliberated for five days, a District Court jury found that although Lewis had not lied to the inquiry, he had accepted bribes totalling $700,000 to protect brothels, SP (starting price) bookmakers, illegal casinos and in-line machine operators, and to prevent poker machines being legally introduced in Queensland. He was also found to have forged Bjelke-Petersen's signature on an official police document in 1981.
Prison
Judge Healy sentenced Lewis to the maximum prison term possible – 14 years on the 15 corruption charges and 10 years on the forgery charge – to be served concurrently, fixed a non-parole period of 9½ years, and fined Lewis $50,000 on each of the corruption charges. Lewis was paroled in 2002 after serving 10½ years. He has continued to protest his innocence, suing his former lawyers and pursuing further appeals. However his appeals failed in August 2005.
Awards and honours
Lewis received the following honours:
Churchill Fellowship in 1968 for his work with the Juvenile Aid Bureau.
In March 1993 the Queen stripped Lewis of the awards of Knight Bachelor, Officer of the Order of the British Empire and Queen's Police Medal for Merit. Lewis became only the 14th person since the 14th century to be stripped of his knighthood. He retained the George Medal, which was awarded for gallantry; and the National Medal awarded for service.