Neil Mercer (2)

About 3/4's of the way into BARRENJOEY ROAD, in the week starting 15th March 2021, I did wonder if it was possible to physically explode from rage whilst simultaneously feeling so desperately desperately sad that so many young women have been raped, and sometimes murdered in this country, and it constantly looks like nobody in authority gives a shit. (And honestly, if you're going to get all po-faced over a bit of language in a review of an account of an appalling travesty of justice in this country (in a long list of appalling travesties of justice against women, people with disability and people of colour), then my timeline is not the place for you.)

Because, frankly, the true story behind BARRENJOEY ROAD is rage inducing, it's infuriating to the point of making you swear loudly and insistently, rant, seethe and frankly question everything and everybody.

It's not just the desperately tragic story of young Trudie Adams, who disappeared one night, never to be seen or heard of again. A young woman simply enjoying a night out, doing the sorts of things that all young women in that day and age did (as did I). It's the story of countless young women who were abducted and raped, yet the prosecution for sexual assault that the police bought to court was one where the victim was a young man. It's the story of two potential offenders identified and then just seemingly filed in the who gives a shit basket, until years later some cops did their jobs and were given the resources to do so. But by then it was too late. The evidence that was initially dismissed, discarded (left lying around in a clearly described crime scene in the bush for god's sake), or just flat out ignored... The multiple identifications of perpetrators that were just ignored... The obviousness of timelines of offender presence and absence in the area, versus abductions and rapes... It would be gobsmacking if we all didn't know exactly what was going on here.

Divided into three sections, BARRENJOEY ROAD starts out with Part One - covering the disappearance of Trudie Adams and the story into the investigation of that. Part Two gets into the background of the prime suspect, and Part Three covers a plethora of cases that fit patterns around Adams disappearance and the inquest into that. There is some attempt to explain the issues with resourcing and certainly individual police had made attempts to look into the suspected murder of Trudie Adams, but really, the blasé manner in which a truly staggering number of abductions and rapes were regarded is utterly unforgivable. It does, however, provide a perfect example of why so many women don't even bother reporting sexual assault. The victim blaming that went on is staggering, the disregard palpable, the entitlement breathtaking. Then there's the police corruption - and whilst it could be argued this is also the story of a single cop who managed to cover up a lot of (mostly non-related) crimes by one man, it's also the story of a police force that didn't police its own.

Inspired by the Walkley Award-shortlisted #1 podcast and acclaimed ABC TV series, this is one of those true crime books that's really hard reading because of the subject matter. It's also particularly illuminating that there's an entire section devoted to the main suspect, with a record that goes back to his childhood, and so much known about him. Yet on the victim's, and the impact of the crimes ... so little. So depressingly, tellingly little. It's distressing, rage inducing and it's books like this that remind you it bloody well has to stop.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/barrenjoey-road-neil-mercer-ruby-jones… (mehr)