Questions over Bain plea bargain offer

David Bain crusader Joe Karam and his lead lawyer appear to disagree on whether the Crown "informally floated" a plea bargain offer during the retrial.

Mr Karam was approached on Monday night to ask about a suggestion that the Crown offered to drop the four remaining murder charges if Mr Bain pleaded guilty to killing his father Robin.

Mr Karam: "It is a rumour and it was kind of joked about, I think, but it never formally became a plea bargain."

It would be wrong to suggest the Crown put it forward as something Mr Bain or his defence team would realistically accept, Mr Karam said.

"The possibility appeared to be floated in an informal manner that's the best way of putting it and (was) immediately rejected on more than one occasion ...

"I was told by Michael Reed, lead counsel for David, that informal comments had been made to that effect and (Mr Reed) had immediately responded by saying David Bain's instructions were absolutely that he was totally innocent of anything to do with any killings of any nature whatsoever, so any of that discussion was pointless."

However, Mr Reed, said yesterday that any suggestion of a Crown offer of a plea bargain was "nonsense, absolute nonsense".

Told that Mr Karam said he believed it was informally floated, Mr Reed said: "Not to my knowledge. That's not my recollection. I think Joe misunderstands something."

Asked if he had a view on why the Crown might have raised the suggestion of a plea bargain, Mr Karam said: " I think they knew their only ... that might have been their only possible hope."

Crown counsel Robin Bates declined to comment. Lead Crown counsel Kieran Raftery had not responded late yesterday.

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