Bowraville murders head to High Court

A week after the NSW Supreme Court dismissed an application for a man to face trial over three murders in Bowraville, the state's attorney general is heading to Australia's highest court for permission to appeal the decision.

September 20, 2018: Protesters rally for justice for the families of the victims of the Bowraville murders in Sydney. Source: AAP

Attorney-General Mark Speakman on Thursday said the state would apply to the High Court for special leave to appeal the unsuccessful case in the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal.

The state wanted a 52-year-old man to face trial over the alleged murders of three Aboriginal children in the NSW town of Bowraville in the 1990s.

Clinton Speedy, who is believed to have been murdered near the Bowraville Aboriginal Mission in 1991. Source: Supplied

Evelyn Greenup, four years old, Clinton Speedy-Duroux, 16, and Colleen Walker, 16, disappeared from the northern NSW town over a five-month period from September 1990.

The man, who can't be named for legal reasons, was acquitted of Clinton's murder in 1994 and of Evelyn's murder in 2006. 

The Bowraville murders: Why the families are still waiting for justice 

If special leave is granted early in 2019, the attorney-general expects the High Court appeal itself to be heard in mid-2019.

Protesters want a man, who can't be named for legal reasons, to go to trial for murdering three children. Source: AAP