Terence Murray Lewis, GM (born 29 February 1928) is a former

Commissioner of the Queensland Police Service The Queensland Police Service (QPS) is the principal law enforcement agency responsible for policing the Australian state of Queensland. In 1990, the Queensland Police Force was officially renamed the Queensland Police Service and the old motto ...

who was convicted and jailed for corruption and forgery as a result of the

Fitzgerald Inquiry The Commission of Inquiry into Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct (the Fitzgerald Inquiry; 1987–1989) into Queensland Police corruption was a judicial inquiry presided over by Tony Fitzgerald QC. The inquiry resulted ...

. He was stripped of his knighthood and two other awards in consequence. Lewis has continued to protest his innocence, and sued his former lawyers and pursued appeals.The Law Report: 12 October 2004 – Justice Queensland Style; Majority Jury Verdicts
/ref> The last of his appeals failed in August 2005..

Policing career

Early career

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 Frank Bischof and was allegedly one of his bagmen. Informant

Shirley Brifman Shirley Margaret Brifman (; 7 December 1935 – 4 March 1972) was an Australian sex worker and brothel madam who was known as a whistleblower on police corruption. She died at the age of 36 in suspicious circumstances, in what was ruled a suicide ...

said: "the collect boys were Lewis, Murphy and Hallahan. That went to Bischof ".

Exile

In late 1975 then Inspector Lewis was transferred to Charleville, at the same time Tony Murphy was posted to Longreach. However, with Queensland Premier

Joh Bjelke-Petersen Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen (13 January 191123 April 2005), known as Joh Bjelke-Petersen, was a conservative Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, during ...

unhappy with Commissioner Whitrod, he made two trips to Charleville in March and May 1976 to talk with Lewis, who had been mentioned to him as a possible future commissioner. Two opportunities came to overthrow Commissioner Whitrod: the Premier shifting Police Minister

Max Hodges Allen Maxwell Hodges (11 February 191731 July 2009) was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. Early life Hodges was born in Brisbane, Queensland, the son of Arthur John Hodges and his wife Helen Allen (née Mitchell). His great gra ...

into another portfolio, who was replaced by

Tom Newbery Thomas Guy Newbery (23 March 1914 – 30 October 1984) was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. Biography Newbery was born at Mackay, Queensland, the son of Ernest Newbery and his wife Maude (née Nicholson). He was educated at We ...

; and the retirement on 15 September of Assistant Commissioner Norm Gulbransen. On 15 November 1976, the State Cabinet had rejected Whitrod's proposed candidates to replace Assistant Commissioner Gulbransen and instead selected Lewis, who had beaten 122 equal or more senior officers for the role.

Police Commissioner

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 Raymond Wells Whitrod, (16 April 1915 – 11 July 2003) was an Australian police officer and criminologist. He was considered a world leader in the way society treats victims of crime. He was known as a man of high professional standards, with ...

, however, Whitrod refused to work with him and resigned in protest when Bjelke-Petersen insisted on Lewis's appointment.

Downfall

Lewis served as Police Commissioner from 1976 to 1987, receiving a

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

hood, but was stood down by police minister Bill Gunn on 21 September 1987, before being dismissed on 19 April 1989. By 1980, Detective Jack Herbert had become Lewis's

bagman The term bagman (or bag man) has different meanings in different countries. One group of definitions centers on the idea of traveling. In British usage, "bagman" is a term for a traveling salesman, first known from 1808. In Australian usage, ...

, 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.

Trial

Following the end of the

, Lewis was charged in 1989 with 23 counts of

perjury Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...

, corruption, and

forgery Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...

. 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

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

s, SP (

starting price In horse racing, the starting price (SP) is the odds prevailing on a particular horse in the on-course fixed-odds betting market at the time a race begins. The method by which SPs are set for each runner varies in different countries but is genera ...

)

bookmaker A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Range of events Bookma ...

s, illegal

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

s and in-line machine operators, and to prevent

poker machines A slot machine (American English), fruit machine (British English) or poker machine ( Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. Slot machines are also known pejoratively ...

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.. The last of his appeals failed in August 2005.

Awards and honours

Lewis received the following honours:

Churchill Fellowship Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts (WCMT) are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill, based in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. They exist for the purpose of administering Churchill Fellowships, a ...

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.''Queensland Gazette'' No. 69, 26 March 1993, p. 1543 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.

References

External links

Two books about crime and corruption in the Queensland police
– Gold Coast Writers Association, 2014.

''

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 ...

'', 1 January 2007
"The State of Play in Acquisition of Property: Theophanous v The Commonwealth" PDF
Sean Brennan, 16 February 2007

''

The Courier Mail ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner northern ...

'' 2 March 2013 "Last Man Standing: Condemned former state police commissioner Terence Lewis decides it's time to tell his side of the story",

Matthew Condon Matthew Condon (born 1962) is a prize-winning Australian writer and journalist. Biography Educated at the University of Queensland and the Goethe Institute, Bremen, Germany, he is the author of ten novels and short story collections, includi ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Terry 1928 births Living people Australian police officers convicted of crimes Police officers convicted of accepting bribes People stripped of a British Commonwealth honour Recipients of the George Medal Commissioners of the Queensland Police People convicted of forgery