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2 judges appointed to NSW District Court
The NSW Attorney-General has appointed two new District Court judges, as part of further support for the expansion of the Child Sexual Offence Evidence Program across the state.
Lauren Croft
Two NSW barristers, Grant Brady SC and David Barrow SC, have been appointed to the District Court by Attorney-General Michael Daley.
Mr Barrow comes to the bench after spending more than a decade with Legal Aid. He was recently appointed as a senior counsel and has extensive court experience, including appearing in criminal trials and sentence proceedings in the local, district, and supreme jurisdictions. In the Coroners Court, he has appeared as counsel assisting the coroner and represented family members and interested parties.
Mr Brady will be sworn in at a ceremonial sitting on Friday, 9 February, with Mr Barrow to be sworn in on Monday, 12 February.
“I would like to congratulate Mr Brady and Mr Barrow on their appointments to the District Court,” Attorney-General Daley said.
“They are highly credentialed, and their deep experience will be extremely valuable to the court. I would like to thank them for agreeing to join the bench.”
The two appointments will support the expansion of the Child Sexual Offence Evidence Program to all District Court locations in NSW, with a third judge to be appointed in the near future.
The program provides support to child complainants and child prosecution witnesses in sexual offence proceedings, allowing them to have their evidence pre-recorded, with the recording later played in court. This approach aims to reduce the stress and trauma experienced by these children and enables them to complete their evidence at an early stage of the trial. It is expected that more than 140 extra pre-recorded evidence hearings will take place each year.
Lauren Croft
Lauren is a journalist at Lawyers Weekly and graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from Macleay College. Prior to joining Lawyers Weekly, she worked as a trade journalist for media and travel industry publications and Travel Weekly. Originally born in England, Lauren enjoys trying new bars and restaurants, attending music festivals and travelling. She is also a keen snowboarder and pre-pandemic, spent a season living in a French ski resort.
