Paul Coghlan (judge)

Paul Coghlan AO is a former Trials Division and Court of Appeals justice at the Supreme Court of Victoria. He has been practicing law since 1969 and was the principal judge of the criminal division of the Court between 2010 and 2012. Between 2000 and 2007 he served as Director of Public Prosecutions and Chief Crown Prosecutor.[1] He retired from the Bench in 2014.[2]

Coghlan was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours for "distinguished service to the law, and to the judiciary, and to the administration and review of criminal justice".[3]

On April 11, 2011 Coghlan sentenced Arthur Freeman to life (32 Years non parole) for throwing his 4 Year old daughter Darcey off the West Gate Bridge. [4]

On April 14, 2021 Coghlan sentenced Mohinder Singh Bajwa to 22 Years (18 Years and 6 Months non parole) over the deaths of four police officers killed on the Eastern Freeway on April 22, 2020. [5]

  1. ^ "Coghlan appointed to Victoria's Court of Appeal". Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  2. ^ "Farewell - The Honourable Justice Paul Coghlan". Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  3. ^ "The Honourable Justice Paul Anthony Coghlan". honours.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  4. ^ "Arthur Freeman jailed for a 32-year minimum for Darcey Freeman murder". Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  5. ^ "Families share their grief after Eastern Freeway truck driver Mohinder Singh sentenced to 22 years in jail". Retrieved 9 May 2021.