R v Bruce Allan BURRELL

Background. 3 Mr Burrell was born on 25 January 1953. Before September 1992 he worked as an advertising executive. In 1985 he married Dallas Bromley. Dallas Bromley and her parents were close friends of Mrs Dorothy Davis. Mrs Davis had known Dallas since she was a child and regarded her with special affection. Mrs Davis' late husband had died in December 1984, leaving her with substantial assets. 4 In 1988 Mr Burrell, Dallas and Dallas' parents purchased a 500 hundred acre farm, known as "Hillydale", at Bungonia. The farm was adjacent to a national park, in a remote area, three hours drive from Sydney. Access to the farm and the national park required travel upon unsealed roads. 5 After their marriage, Mr Burrell and his wife lived in a unit in Marine Parade, Lurline Bay. In November 1993, Mr Burrell left a note for the owner of a house in the same street, 34 Marine Parade, indicating his interest in purchasing that property. The house was on the corner of Wilson Street and Marine Parade, facing the ocean. Wilson Street was the next street to Undine Street, where Mrs Davis lived, a ten minute walk away. The owner of the house invited Mr Burrell and Dallas around for a discussion. At that stage, however, she was not interested in selling. 6 In January 1994, Dallas was diagnosed with cancer. She began treatment including chemotherapy. The treatment continued until August 1994. A few months before the treatment came to an end, Mr Burrell again wrote to the owner of 34 Marine Parade. The owner was then living in England. In July 1994 agreement was reached for the sale of 34 Marine Parade to Mr Burrell and his wife for $600,000. 7 On Friday 8 July 1994, Mrs Davis wrote a cheque for $500,000 in favour of Mr Burrell. The balance in her account at that time was $114,000. The following Monday the bank manager telephoned Mrs Davis and drew her attention to the shortfall. Mrs Davis explained that the cheque was "a short term loan to a friend". She gave instructions to stop the cheque. The bank manager made a diary note of their conversation. 8 On 12 August 1994, Mrs Davis wrote a further cheque in favour of Mr Burrell, this time for $100,000. Mr Burrell deposited that cheque the same day in his account, telling the bank manager that the funds were to be used as a deposit on a property near his home. On 20 August 1994, Mr Burrell, by arrangement, withdrew $90,000 in cash from his account. Again he spoke to the bank manager, suggesting that the money was to be used in connection with the purchase of a house. 9 Mrs Davis spoke to her daughter, Mrs Maree Dawes, about each of these cheques. She related her conversations with Mr Burrell. Mr Burrell had told her that Dallas really wanted the house at 34 Marine Parade. Mrs Davis, generously, was prepared to assist with a loan. The larger cheque, which was later stopped, was written in the context of a suggestion by Mr Burrell that the owners required a larger than usual deposit. Mr Burrell later told Mrs Davis, according to the explanation which she provided her daughter, that a lesser amount would be adequate. It was in that context that the second cheque for $100,000 was written. 10 Mr Burrell said nothing to Dallas concerning these transactions until much later that year. He then gave an entirely different account, which he later repeated to the police. He said that Mrs Davis wished to conceal certain matters from her children. She asked Mr Burrell for his assistance, which he was willing to provide. She would write him a cheque upon the basis that he would repay her in cash shortly after. She ultimately wrote a cheque in his favour for $100,000 and he repaid $90,000 in cash retaining, at her suggestion, $10,000 for his trouble. Plainly, and unsurprising, the jury rejected that account as false. I accept that the money was provided by Mrs Davis to Mr Burrell as a short term loan to assist in the purchase of 34 Marine Parade to benefit Dallas, who had been gravely ill. 11 Meanwhile, in August 1994, contracts were exchanged for the purchase of 34 Marine Parade and a deposit paid. By October the purchase had been completed. However, the $100,000 provided by Mrs Davis to Mr Burrell was not used in that purchase. Instead, a bank loan was raised for the whole of the purchase price. 12 It is clear that the money provided by Mrs Davis to Mr Burrell in July 1994 was spent, or substantially spent, by Mr Burrell in the period before May 1995. He had been unemployed since 1992. He was not in receipt of Social Security benefits. He had no source of income. He was, as he acknowledged in evidence before the coroner, dependant upon his wife, who was employed. Mr Fogarty, an expert accountant, gave evidence at his trial. Mr Fogarty analysed the income and expenditure of the Burrell household before and after July 1994 and demonstrated that, after the loan, Mr Burrell plainly had an unexplained source of cash. 13 Mr Peter Grace, a witness at the trial, gave evidence of a conversation with Mr Burrell after Mrs Davis disappeared on 30 May 1995. He said that Mr Burrell told him that Mrs Davis had loaned him money and had been pressing for its return. Indeed, she had threatened legal action. Mr Burrell, however, was in no position to repay the loan. 14 The evidence of Mr Grace was strongly challenged during the trial by counsel for Mr Burrell. Certainly one may have reservations about certain aspects of Mr Grace's evidence. However, I accept that, in May 1995, Mrs Davis was pressing Mr Burrell for repayment of the loan and that he was unable to repay that loan. The contemporaneous note made by the bank manager in July 1994 in the bank diary corroborated that the advance by Mrs Davis was in the nature of a short term loan to a friend. By the end of May 1995, almost one year had elapsed without repayment. It is unsurprising that Mrs Davis should have been anxious for the return of her money.