Thomas Wells (Australian judge)
Australian judge
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Thomas Alexander Wells (c. 1888 – 13 September 1954) was a judge of the Northern Territory Supreme Court in Darwin, Australia. He was known for having misdirected the jury in a high-profile case in 1934, which was later overturned in an appeal in the High Court of Australia known as Tuckiar v The King.
Career
Wells was a court reporter for a Sydney newspaper.[1]
He served overseas in WWI and on returning to Australia studied law in Sydney, where he practised at the bar for nine years after graduating.[1]
In 1933 he was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, following the retirement of Justice Mallam (1878–1954).[1][2]
He presided over some of the Territory's most high-profile trials, including the murder trial of Dhakiyarr Wirrpanda, a Yolngu man from Caledon Bay in Arnhem Land, who was convicted of murdering Constable Albert Stewart McColl at Woodah Island on 1 August 1933. This was part of a series of events known as the Caledon Bay crisis Dhakiyarr was convicted of murder and sentenced to death, but seven months later this verdict was overturned in the Tuckiar v The King case. Several reasons were given for the success of the appeal, including that Judge Wells had misdirected the jury.[3][4]
He was regarded more benignly for ordering the doors of Fannie Bay Gaol open following the Japanese air raids in 1942, rather than have them suffer should the jail receive a direct hit.[5]
He was himself evacuated to Alice Springs following the air raids, returning in 1945.[6]
Later life and legacy
He suffered a stroke in 1951, and retired the following year. He died in Darwin Hospital in September 1954.[citation needed]
Wells Street, in the Darwin suburbs of Ludmilla and Parap, is named after him.[citation needed][7]