The family of falsely accused man Daniel Jones have been told they don’t qualify for compensation – despite spending over $600,000 to prove their son’s innocence.
Thirty-two-year-old Daniel Jones believed he and his family must be compensated, after their legal battles against his former partner Sarah Jane Parkinson devastated them emotionally and financially.
“Without mum and dad's financial backing, I'd be in jail – simple as that,” Mr Jones told 60 Minutes reporter Liz Hayes.
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“I want mum and dad to have what they lost, be compensated for everything that's happened.
“It’s torn our family apart.”
In 2014, Daniel Jones was charged with 32 domestic violence charges including the violent rape of his partner Sarah Jane Parkinson.
But he was innocent, a victim of Sarah Jane Parkinson’s elaborate web of lies – created to send him to jail and gain possession of their family home and assets.
Gullible police believed her allegations and Mr Jones was sent to Australia’s toughest prison – Goulburn Corrections Centre – while he awaited his trial.
Mr Jones was kept behind bars for almost five months, while Parkinson moved her police officer lover and his three children into the home Mr Jones had built and was still paying for.
When police detective Leesa Alexander took over Parkinson’s case against Mr Jones, she noticed a number of inconsistencies and outright lies that Parkinson had told police.
Her investigation finally exposed Parkinson’s deceitful behaviour and her false accusations of abuse and rape.
Mr Jones was freed from prison in an urgent bail application by the DPP, which had previously failed to adequately test the evidence of his guilt.
Over the next five years, Parkinson vigorously fought charges brought against her by Detective Leesa Alexander of falsely accusing Mr Jones of rape and abuse.
Mr Jones’ father, Ian, says the damage caused by Parkinson’s allegations, together with the prolonged legal fight and financial burden of proving his son’s innocence, were all major contributing factors in the breakdown of his long marriage to wife Michelle.
“It's destroyed our family. It has ruined us,” Ian Jones told Hayes.
“Daniel's lost his career, his reputation, his livelihood, his house.
“Michelle and I expended huge amounts of money, which significantly contributed to our divorce, after over 30 years of marriage.”
But while the Jones family are victims of crime, they don’t qualify for compensation for their suffering.
Their only hope for financial restitution is if the ACT attorney general authorises a special payment.
In January 2019, Parkinson finally pleaded guilty, admitting to the court she’d made up her allegations against Mr Jones.
She was sentenced to prison for three years and one month – at least two of those years will be spent behind bars.
“Sarah destroyed that family,” Det Alexander told Hayes.
“It's awful what happened to the Jones. They are good people, and she destroyed that family. Dan didn't do anything to cause this.”
Sarah Jane Parkinson will be eligible for parole in January 2021.