Ian Barker, QC, told Downing Centre Local Court that Patrick Power, 54, had suffered from an internet addiction & depressive illness.

Barker tendered 76 references from barristers, friends & family “attesting to his integrity & contribution to society”. They said the highly regarded prosecutor had always behaved with “complete propriety” towards children - “In one sense the community is indebted to him and he’s now entitled to call in that debt,” Mr Barker said after outlining some of Power’s contributions to youth causes.

Power had suffered public humiliation & had already been punished & should be given a good behaviour bond, Mr Barker said.

Also, he would be in obvious danger in prison, he said. “He is not a pedophile nor anything like it. … this is an extremely sad case. You have a good man, a person with integrity … who is ruined by his own conduct that was contributed to very substantially by matters beyond his control.

Others have a very different view of Mr Power to that voiced by Barker & a good deal to say about the state of the justice system in NSW …..

‘Patrick John Power was a respected pillar of society who upheld the law with zealous tenacity. During his tenure as New South Wales Deputy Senior Crown Prosecutor, he prosecuted and helped imprison hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals. One of those he successfully prosecuted and imprisoned was Roseanne Catt.

Roseanne Catt’s saga (PDF 422KB) began during the 1980s when she was informed by the NSW Department of Family and Community Services (FACS) that her new husband, Barry Catt, in company with other prominent Taree townspeople, had been molesting his own four children (Roseanne’s stepchildren) for years prior to their marriage.’

A Gross Miscarriage Of Justice