Verdict 'about time'

As today's first verdict was read, people waiting in the Christchurch High Court foyer cheered and yelled 'about time'.

There was then silence as the verdicts relating to the rest of the five Bain family members.

Shane Duffy, who spent three years with Bain in Christchurch's Paparoa Prison, said his hands were sweating as he waited for the verdicts.

''You could cut the atmosphere with a knife.''

Duffy said Bain was a ''very timid, meek and gentle person'' who was physically assaulted and constantly threatened while in prison.

''When I arrived in prison, David was the first person to come up and talk to me. A few days later he gave me a book, The Celestine Prophesy and I have kept it ever since.

''We were good friends but he never talked to me about his family or how he felt about being imprisoned. He kept a lot inside.

''His release from prison was a new start for him, this verdict will be another rebirth.''

A group of women, strangers who had grown to know each after meeting daily in the public gallery, hugged in jubilation at the freedom of a man they never knew.

One of the women, Leila Read, had gone to Christchurch from her Waikanae home for the duration of the trial.

Unable to squeeze into the packed public gallery to join her new friends and fellow Bain supporters, Read heard the verdict live via a TV link in the waiting room outside the courtroom.

''It's a great relief,'' she said.

''And it must be for the rest of New Zealand. It just didn't add up. Joe Karam and Mr Reed deserve a knighthood.''

A woman who sat through a month of the court case, but did not want to be named, said she was undecided about Bain's innocence at first.

But after listening to the evidence, she decided he was innocent.

''I think this court case was a big waste of money. There was so much evidence there that his father could do it I wonder why they bothered to hold the trial.''

A Christchurch woman who attended every day of the retrial dubbed the verdict ''wonderful'' moments after it was announced.

Bunny Low, 53, who moved to Christchurch from Australia in November had followed every day of the trial from the public gallery. ''It's wonderful. Justice has been served. It should have happened years ago,'' she said.

''I was worried today. Actually I was feeling quite sick.''

Shane Fletcher, 34, cheered loudly as Bain emerged from court.

''David all the way. Yes. Good one David. Justice is served,'' he cheered.

Fletcher met Bain in prison and was very pleased with the verdict.

''It is a relief that it is all over for him and he can get on with his life. I always thought he was innocent and that it was his old man,'' he said.

''I was in prison with him. He handed me a hot dog with two bread rolls and I liked that. He is a nice guy.''

Even those who were toddlers at the time of the murders were drawn to the court out of fascination and a sense of history.

St Andrew's College student Anthony Metcalfe, 17, had rushed from his nearby home to watch the ''momentous occasion''.

''It's definitely the right verdict,'' he said.

''He's a nice guy, I see him walking past my house every day and he doesn't look like a killer.''

Crowds clambered on to every raised concrete planter, seat or vantage point, as Bain emerged from a side exit of the court.

Although the speakers were impossible to hear from more than a few rows back, they fell into a respectful hush as he addressed the crowd.

- © Fairfax NZ News