Beyond reasonable doubt: the Leith Rattan case

Leith Rattan was found guilty of murdering his wife Beverly in their Echuca home and sentenced to death by hanging in a Shepparton Court. However, the verdict took many people by surprise and the sentence was later commuted to 25 years in prison. Rattan had always staunchly maintained that the shooting was an accident, although the police investigation seemingly identified a motive and opportunity. There were four appeals to higher courts on the grounds of the prosecution’s evidence and the original judgment made, however they were all dismissed. Through dramatised re-enactment and a thorough explanation of the forensic evidence offered at the original trial, presenter Gordon Hawkins casts doubt over the veracity of the evidence presented by the prosecution and asks was Rattan’s guilt proven beyond reasonable doubt? He also makes the point that the trial process itself is fraught with inequities and can often affect the accused person’s chance of a fair trial.