Lee Churches, one of the senior staff at Carenne Special School facing a criminal charge in the Bathurst Local Court in relation to a whistleblower and Lyn Duncan, former principal of Carenne have committed a criminal offence, this time with a possible 10 to 14 year gaol sentence.
A well-known Carenne whistleblower Brian Carter lodged a Freedom of Information application in May after reading leaked emails about himself on this blog. Documents provided under that application would have been used in criminal proceedings against Lee Churches. Mr Carter today was told that the documents do not exist.
Carenne Gate understands that the process is for the department's FOI unit to request the documents from staff who hold them, in this case Lee Churches and Lyn Duncan.
Carenne Gate has consulted with a criminal law expert who advised that while the suppression of
documents under the Freedom of Information Act itself was not illegal, it is illegal to tamper with evidence and making a false official instrument to pervert the course of justice. The lawyer claimed that Miss Churches and Mrs Duncan would have signed a document stating no documents existed under the request. Such a document would have been an "official instrument" made by a "public officer".It shows that despite being in serious trouble already, Lee Churches continues to break the law to protect herself and the Carenne KLAN.
