… and I’m very grateful for that!

By far the longest chapter in my upcoming and latest loss-leading book (at top and below) is Waiting for the Axe to Fall.

It covers the time period since the learned, fair, just and totally professional District Court judge hearing my appeal against a Magistrate’s Court conviction for speeding in a school zone declared that his judgement wouldn’t take long and he’d hand down his decision in a few days, certainly no later than Friday April 17, four days after the appeal hearing just the Monday before, April 13.

So here is my draft of another section under that forever-expanding Waiting for the Axe to Fall…. chapter.

4.30pm 29 May 2026,

The District Court registry has just closed for another week, marking a full six weeks since the District Court appeal judge said that he would give his reasons for dismissing my appeal. Yes, I’m still the glass-half empty sort of chap that a half a century of cynical journalism has taught me to be. Covering courts for three years as arguably one of The Courier-Mail’s court reporters at the time didn’t help me see that water level any differently.

But despite my pessimism, I want to make it perfectly clear that I believe in my heart of hearts that His Honour will be doing his very, very, best to ensure justice is done in what’s turned out to be a remarkably interesting case.

I really need to stress that once more, seeing I’m in a fairly unique position where I’m sharing in the court of public opinion draft sections of my upcoming book and I’m acutely aware that I mustn’t share anything with The Bug‘s reader that could be construed as trying to influence the learned jurist in his ongoing professional deliberations. Not that for one minute do I believe he could be so swayed.

In fact, from the very moment I walked into his courtroom late, through no fault of my own, mind, he impressed me with his no-nonsense manner; obvious from the outset, and that he was a stickler for protocol and well-entrenched procedures that reflected – and respected – the District Court’s fine standing in our societal hierarchy. I could perhaps suggest he took a disliking to me from the get-go for my tardiness or even my choice of clothing. but that’s not really a criticism, Many people have done that during my lifetime and it has save them much time.

As mentioned in earlier drafts under this chapter heading, I once again humbly suggest there’s much to weigh up in the mind of a man who reminded me so much of J. C. Latchford, Chief Magistrate in my days as a court reporter, Now there was a beak who didn’t suffer felons gladly. And woe betide any defendant who didn’t stand, back straight and feet together, and eyes filled with respect and hopefully fear as well and focused solely on the CSM’s learned face. I can’t recall a time when people fronting him didn’t bring a toothbrush just in case, and that included witnesses in some fairly minor summary-court hearing.

Anyway, enough of that and back to the key issues, only as I see them, that the appeal judge is currently mulling over. A camera operator’s certificate that the Police Commissioner’s counsel has argued never existed; and a lower-court transcript that may or may not be missing a crucial exchange between the magistrate and the police prosecutor.

As for that second matter, I will over this weekend send a missive by snail mail reminder to QTranscripts asking how their investigation into whether that transcript is accurate or deficient has been proceeding since it became aware of my accusation three weeks ago now. I appreciate QTranscripts’ workload is busy but claims of an incomplete written transcript must be rare. It must surely be causing great alarm at QTranscipts as it has to me, that obviously through no sinister action on anyone’s parr, a section crucial to probably the major strand of my arguments at appeal does not appear.

And I’m still seeking untested legal advice, through AI and Company, as to whether I can now ask the Police Commissioner to investigate my claims that the remote camera operator has wilfully signed off on a certificate – yes, it’s always existed in my bush lawyer’s mind – knowing full well that he or she had no way of claiming all traffic signs were visible and adequate on the day in question, thereby allegedly breaching public service codes of conduct and possibly even a criminal offence.

After the CCC reasonably knocked back my application for such an investigation, can the state’s top cop start that process even though we remain right now; he the respondent in this case (well, on behalf of King Charles of Australia) and me the appellant on behalf of myself.

Don Gordon-Brown

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