Colleen Egan was an Assistant Editor at ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

'' newspaper. She played a role in obtaining the acquittal of

Andrew Mallard Andrew Mark Mallard (16 August 1962 – 18 April 2019) was a British-born Australian who was wrongfully convicted of murder in 1995 and sentenced to life imprisonment. Almost 12 years later, after an appeal to the High Court of Australia, his c ...

, a

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

n man who had been wrongfully convicted of murder. She also unwittingly contributed to the political downfall of Western Australian

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

powerbroker

Noel Crichton-Browne Noel Ashley Crichton-Browne (born 2 February 1944 at Wiluna, Western Australia) is a former member of the Australian Senate and political lobbyist. Early life Crichton-Browne was educated at Scotch College, Perth. Before his career in politics ...

when he made inappropriate sexual comments to her at a Liberal Party conference.

History

Egan, who has principally been employed as a print journalist by ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'', first established herself as an

investigative journalist Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...

in 2000 when her exclusive interviews with terrorist Jack Roche were published in ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

''. Her work has since taken her to London, covering trials at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

, and back to

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

as a weekly columnist for ''The Sunday Times''. She is now Chief of Staff for WA Attorney General John Quigley. Egan was approached in 1998 by the family of Andrew Mallard who had been convicted and detained in 1995 for the murder of jeweller Pamela Lawrence. Her subsequent investigations revealed that Mallard's conviction had been largely based on a

forced confession A forced confession is a confession obtained from a suspect or a prisoner by means of torture (including enhanced interrogation techniques) or other forms of duress. Depending on the level of coercion used, a forced confession is not valid in rev ...

. Her book on the case, ''Murderer No More: Andrew Mallard and the Epic Fight that Proved his Innocence'', was published by Allen & Unwin in June 2010.Murderer No More: Andrew Mallard and the Epic Fight that Proved his Innocence
by Colleen Egan, published by Allen & Unwin in June 2010.

Awards

Walkley Award for Most Outstanding Contribution to Journalism The Walkley Award for Outstanding Contribution to Journalism, formerly Walkley Award for Most Outstanding Contribution to Journalism, is one of the prestigious Australian Walkley Awards, and "recognises the achievements of a person or group for ...

for 2006 for her role in the acquittal of Andrew Mallard. *

News Limited News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of the American News Corp. One of Australia's largest media conglomerates, News Corp Australia employs more than 8,000 staff nationwide and approximately 3,0 ...

's 2007 Sir Keith Murdoch Award for Journalism, also for the eight-year investigation that led to the acquittal of Andrew Mallard. *2011,

Davitt Award The Davitt Awards are literary awards which are presented annually by the Sisters in Crime Australia association. The awards are named in honour of Ellen Davitt (1812–1879) who wrote Australia's first mystery novel, ''Force and Fraud'' in 186 ...

for ''Murderer No More''

References

External links

*Transcript from Radio National ''Media Report'' programme, featurin
interview with Colleen Egan
(Broadcast on Thursday, 10 August 1995). *Walkley Awards website page fo

{{DEFAULTSORT:Egan, Colleen Australian columnists Living people Journalists from Western Australia Walkley Award winners Date of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Australian non-fiction crime writers

History

Awards

See also

References

External links