Benjamin Batterham: Secret payout at last for Aussie dad cleared of murdering the RAPIST he found lurking in his little girl’s bedroom

A chef who was found not guilty of murdering a rapist he found in his seven-month-old daughter’s bedroom has won a confidential payout for being wrongly prosecuted.

Ben Batterham was acquitted by a NSW Supreme Court jury in November 2019 of murdering meth-addicted home invader Ricky Slater in Newcastle three years earlier.

Mr Batterham had been celebrating his 33rd birthday in Hamilton with a friend on March 26, 2016 – Easter Saturday – when he was confronted by Slater.

That evening, Mr Batterham’s fiancée Monique Cameron and their seven-month-old daughter were at his parents’ house next door.

While Mr Batterham and his friend were drinking and listening to music in the lounge room, 37-year-old Slater entered the premises about 3am.

Slater, who had a criminal record for offences including rape dating back to his teens, had been released from prison about three months earlier.

He was carrying three knives, cannabis and meth in his bag.

Once inside the house, Slater made his way to Mr Batterham’s daughter’s nursery and stole Ms Cameron’s handbag. When confronted, Slater fled out a side door.

Mr Batterham chased Slater from his home and along several streets, making a call to Triple Zero on the way, before tackling him to the ground. He held Slater down, punched him repeatedly in the head and put him in a chokehold until police arrived.

Mr Batterham told police at the scene: ‘Give me two minutes with him. I’ll kill the dog.’

Slater was taken to hospital and his life support was switched off the next day after he had suffered three heart attacks.

Mr Batterham, who suffered a bite wound as well as cuts and bruises during his struggle with the 120kg Slater, was charged with murder and spent six weeks in jail.

He was eventually granted bail, which included a $200,000 surety on his parents’ home.

Mr Batterham always insisted he had never intended to kill Slater and had only put his arm around the burglar’s neck so he could not escape his hold.

A jury accepted Mr Batterham’s assertion he had been making a citizen’s arrest and cleared him of both murder and manslaughter.

Mr Batterham, who was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder following Slater’s death, did not give sworn evidence but wrote a letter to the jury that was read out in court.

‘I never intended to cause Mr Slater any serious harm. I wanted to apprehend him and get back what was stolen,’ he wrote.

‘I admit I was angry and I hit him, but I was only trying to keep him from getting away. He was constantly struggling and fighting, he bit me on the right arm.

‘All I wanted was for him to stop.’ 

The jury was not told Slater had pleaded guilty to raping a 16-year-old girl in June 2007 after forcing his way into her home and threatening to stab her with a non-existent knife.

Justice Desmond Fagan ruled Mr Batterham should be paid costs, saying the charges against him should have been withdrawn on the medical evidence alone.

The judge also said Mr Batterham had acted reasonably when he chased down Slater, who was high on meth at the time.

Slater had scarring to his heart due to regular drug use, suffered liver disease and was obese, the court heard during Mr Batterham’s two-week trial.

The Crown had argued Mr Batterham ’caused or substantially contributed to the death of Ricky Slater by application of pressure to his neck and downward pressure on his upper body’.

Toxicologist and pharmacologist Dr Michael Kennedy gave evidence that Slater died due to the high level of meth in his system and his existing heart condition.

‘If he hadn’t been taking methamphetamine it’s highly unlikely he would have died,’ Dr Kennedy said during the trial.

Justice Fagan determined the murder charge should have been withdrawn upon receipt of Dr Kennedy’s report about Slater.

Mr Batterham acted ‘lawfully and reasonably’ in calling police then chasing down and restraining Slater, the judge found.

‘Having seen and heard the evidence of all the eyewitnesses it does not appear to me that the restraint applied by Mr Batterham was excessive, putting aside the blows he dealt to Ricky Slater while holding him down,’ he said.

‘Those blows may have gone beyond the force that was reasonably necessary to restrain Slater and to prevent escape.

‘But it has been clearly shown by every medical opinion offered in the case that they played no part in causing death.’

Mr Batterham filed a civil claim against the State of NSW in the Supreme Court seeking damages for wrongful prosecution and last Thursday the matter was resolved.

The case was discontinued after the parties agreed to a settlement, the terms of which cannot be disclosed.

Mr Batterham’s solicitor Peter O’Brien told the ABC the agreement ended a difficult nearly decade-long ordeal for his client.

‘For Ben Batterham, it has been a long and torturous process to have been charged, then to have been acquitted,’ Mr O’Brien said.

‘To have now settled a suit against the state in relation to the manner in which he was prosecuted, that’s been a long and arduous process for him, and hopefully now he can move on with his life.

‘It’s a very good example of why prosecution authorities need to exercise the discretion to not proceed and to not bring proceedings that are inevitably doomed, as this one was.’

In March 2020, Mr Batterham told 60 Minutes on the night he found Slater in his daughter’s room, he did what ‘any father would have done’. 

‘This could happen to anyone,’ he said. ‘It could happen to you, it could happen to me.   

‘My head was doing backflips… I was very upset. It’s my castle, people should always defend their homes.’