Terry Lewis (police officer)
| Terence Murray "Terry" Lewis | |
|---|---|
| Born | 29 February 1928 (age 89) |
| Criminal penalty | 10½ years |
| Criminal status | released |
| Conviction(s) | 16 counts of corruption and forgery |
|
Commissioner Terence Murray Lewis |
|
|---|---|
| 14th Commissioner of the Queensland Police Service | |
|
In office November 1976 – September 1987 |
|
| Preceded by | Raymond Wells Whitrod |
| Succeeded by | Ronald Joseph Redmond (acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 29, 1928 |
| Spouse(s) | Hazel Catherine Lewis (m. 1952–2009), on her death |
| Children | five |
| Residence | Brisbane, Australia |
| Profession | Police officer |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Terence Murray "Terry" Lewis GM (born 29 February 1928) is a former Queensland Police Commissioner who was convicted and jailed for corruption and forgery as a result of the Fitzgerald Inquiry. He was stripped of his knighthood and two other awards in consequence.
Lewis has continued to protest his innocence, and sued his former lawyers and pursued appeals. However his appeals failed in August 2005.
Lewis was inducted as a police officer in 1949. As a senior constable, Lewis was in charge of the Juvenile Aid Bureau. He was implicated in the National Hotel scandal. Lewis was also a close associate of the corrupt former Police Commissioner Francis Bischof and was allegedly one of his bagmen. Informant, Shirley Brifman, said:" the collect boys were Lewis, Murphy and Hallahan. That went to Bischof ". Former Royal Commissioner, Donald Stewart, observed that in 1976, Lewis "was plucked from well-deserved obscurity by [Premier] Bjelke-Petersen to be his vassal, to do his bidding, lawful or otherwise". Initially, Lewis was promoted to the rank of Assistant Police Commissioner to Ray Whitrod, however, Whitrod refused to work with him and resigned in protest when Bjelke-Petersen insisted on Lewis's appointment. Lewis served as Police Commissioner from 1978 to 1987, receiving a knighthood, but was dismissed by police minister Bill Gunn in September 1987.
By 1980, Detective Jack Herbert had become Lewis' bagman, but he later became a major informant against Lewis and others at the Fitzgerald Inquiry. Assistant Commissioner Graeme Parker also confessed to corruption and implicated Lewis on 16 September 1987. Following the end of the Fitzgerald Inquiry, Lewis was charged in 1989 with 23 counts of perjury, corruption, and forgery. After hearing evidence over five months, and having deliberated for five days, a District Court jury found that although Lewis had not lied to the inquiry, he had accepted bribes totalling $700,000 to protect brothels, SP (starting price) bookmakers, illegal casinos and in-line machine operators, and to prevent poker machines being legally introduced in Queensland. He was also found to have forged Bjelke-Petersen's signature on an official police document in 1981.
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