Sir Thomas Murray Thorp (1 December 1925 – 17 October 2018) was a New Zealand lawyer and jurist who served as a judge of the

High Court of New Zealand The High Court of New Zealand ( mi, Te Kōti Matua o Aotearoa) is the superior court of New Zealand. It has general jurisdiction and responsibility, under the Senior Courts Act 2016, as well as the High Court Rules 2016, for the administration ...

Professional career

From 1963 to 1979, Thorp was the Crown Solicitor in Gisborne. He sat as a judge in the High Court of New Zealand from 1979 until 1996. In the

1997 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1997 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

, Thorp was appointed a

Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for those ...

, in recognition of his service as a judge of the High Court. Thorp served as chairman of the National Parole Board and sat as a member of the Court of Appeal.

Later life and death

After his retirement as a judge, Thorp wrote reports into some controversial matters. In 1997, he reviewed New Zealand's gun control measures, and recommended that all firearms be registere

He also wrote a report into the

David Bain On 20 June 1994, Robin and Margaret Bain and three of their four childrenArawa, Laniet and Stephenwere shot to death in Dunedin, New Zealand. The only suspects were David Cullen Bain, the eldest son and only survivor, and Robin Bain, the father ...

case in which he said he was satisfied with the trial verdict. In 1999, he wrote a report into the

Peter Hugh McGregor Ellis Peter Hugh McGregor Ellis (30 March 1958 – 4 September 2019) was a New Zealand childcare worker who was wrongfully convicted of child sexual abuse. He was at the centre of one of the country's most enduring judicial controversies, after being ...

case. Thorp expressed misgivings with aspects of the case. He could find no corroboration of the children's claims of sexual abuse. He said that section 23G of the Evidence Act should be repealed because it allowed an expert to say that there was no behaviour inconsistent with sexual abuse. His report recommended that the Justice Ministry obtain the opinion of

Stephen J. Ceci Stephen J. Ceci is an American psychologist at Cornell University. He studies the accuracy of children's courtroom testimony (as it applies to allegations of physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect), and he is an expert in the development of intel ...

with regard to the children's evidence. The Ministry has ignored this and other recommendations from Thorp's report. His report contrasts with that written by Sir

Thomas Eichelbaum Sir Johann Thomas Eichelbaum (17 May 1931 – 31 October 2018) was a New Zealand jurist who served as the 11th Chief Justice of New Zealand. Early life and family Eichelbaum was born in Königsberg, Germany, and his family emigrated to Wellin ...

, which upheld Ellis's conviction. In 2005, Thorp published a book entitled ''Miscarriages of Justice''. He researched 53 applications for the

Royal Prerogative of Mercy In the English and British tradition, the royal prerogative of mercy is one of the historic royal prerogatives of the British monarch, by which they can grant pardons (informally known as a royal pardon) to convicted persons. The royal prer ...

and found that at least 20 applicants may have been wrongly imprisoned. Thorp lived in the Auckland suburb of Parnell. He died on 17 October 2018.

References

* Sir Thomas Thorp, Opinion for The Secretary for Justice re Petitions for the Exercise of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy by Peter Hugh McGregor Ellis, Auckland, March 1999 * See http://www.peterellis.org.nz/docs/1999/Thorp/index.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Thorp, Thomas 1925 births 2018 deaths 20th-century New Zealand judges Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit High Court of New Zealand judges