By 3 News online staff
David Bain could potentially receive a Government payout of nearly $2 million in the wake of a new report that concludes he was wrongfully convicted of murder.
Mr Bain served 13 years in prison for the killing of his parents, brother and two sisters, but was acquitted in 2009.
The New Zealand Herald reports a retired Canadian Supreme Court judge has concluded that Mr Bain is most likely innocent, in a report he compiled for the Government.
Based on previous payouts, Mr Bain's compensation could reach as high as $2 million. It would cover non-pecuniary losses (liberty, emotional harm) as well as the loss of livelihood.
Although the report says Mr Bain was most likely innocent, the Government is not bound to give him anything. Mr Bain served 13 years of a 16-year minimum sentence for the murders, before his convictions were quashed by the Privy Council. At a retrial in 2009, he was found not guilty.
But the law states compensation can only be paid if claimants have been pardoned or had their convictions quashed on appeal, without a retrial, unless there are extraordinary circumstances.
The Government says it will not release the report until it had made a decision on compensation.
A man wrongly convicted of rape last year received $351,575 in compensation - $410 for every day he served, plus $15,000 for the police's "improper conduct".
A similar rate would see Mr Bain awarded $1.94 million.
3 News