Terry Lewis (police commissioner)
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Terence Murray "Terry" Lewis (born 29 February 1928) is a former Queensland police commissioner who was convicted and jailed for corruption as a result of the Fitzgerald Inquiry.
Lewis was Police Commissioner from 1978 to 1987 and received a knighthood before being dismissed in 1987 by order of the Fitzgerald Inquiry appointed taskforce that shut down Queensland's parliament.
Lewis was charged with 23 counts of perjury, corruption and forgery in 1989 when the inquiry ended. He was committed on all charges, and after hearing evidence over five months, and having deliberated for five days, a District Court jury found that Lewis:
- Had accepted bribes totalling $700,000 to protect brothels, SP bookmakers, illegal casinos, in-line machine operators and to prevent poker machines being legally introduced in Queensland;
- Had forged Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen's signature on an official police document in 1981; and
- Had not lied to the Fitzgerald Inquiry.
The jury acquitted him on the seven perjury charges, but the Judge (Tony Healy) sentenced Lewis to the maximum jail term of 14 years with a minimum of 9 1/2 years on the 15 corruption charges and the maximum of 10 years with a seven year minimum on the forgery charge and fined Lewis $750,000 (the jail sentences were served simultaneously, meaning that Lewis was sentenced to 14 years' jail with a 9 1/2 year minimum). Lewis was released in 2002 after serving 10 1/2 years, but was stripped of his knighthood, OBE & QPM in 1993. He has continually protested his innocence, and is now suing his lawyers and pursuing further appeals.
