Benjamin Batterham has now received a secret payout after being cleared of murder after finding a convicted rapist in his little girl’s nursery ten years ago next month
A dad who found a convicted rapist coming out of his daughter’s bedroom spoke about the horrific night that changed the course of his life 10 years ago — after being wrongly prosecuted for murder.
Ben Batterham was celebrating his 33rd birthday at home in Hamilton, Australia, with a friend on March 26, 2016, when an intruder broke into his property. His fiancée, Monique Cameron, and their seven-month-old daughter, weren’t in, having gone next door to sleep in Ben’s parent’s house.
While Ben and his pal were about to call it a night, a man called Ricky Slater made his way into the home. Slater was high on drugs and was armed with three knives and had a previous conviction of rape from his teenage years, as well as other offences.
The criminal, who had only been released from prison three months earlier, made a beeline for Ben’s daughter’s nursery where he snatched Monique’s handbag. However, once confronted, he made a run for it.
Recalling being face to face with the man, Ben, an apprentice chef at the time, remembered: “Very big bloke. Standing there. It was more than a shock. I was quite fearful for my daughter, and Monique, and at the time myself.”
Asked by 60 Minutes Australia whether his head was “exploding” after seeing the man emerge from his daughter’s room, he replied: “It was. It was doing backflips. I remember saying ‘hey’ and I’ve jumped up and started to chase him.”
Ben chased him along several streets and even called the police before eventually tackling him to the ground in the hopes of making a citizen’s arrest. A violent struggle ensued, and when police officers did arrive on the scene, he reportedly told them: “Give me two minutes with him. I’ll kill the dog.”
Recalling the initial struggle, he said: “A few headbuts, a few bites, he tried to snap my thumb back towards my wrist. Quite rough.” He added: “I was yelling. I did strike him a few times. I didn’t have him in a chokehold.”
He reiterated that the did what was necessary to hold him down until the police arrived.
However, when cops arrived and handcuffed Slater, they realised he was unresponsive. And it turned out he had suffered the first of three cardiac arrests which would end his life the following day. Ben meanwhile was arrested and eventually charged with murder.
Remembering that moment, he said: “I broke down and said, ‘Look, I didn’t do it.’ My mother and father were standing there, I gave them a hug and a kiss and that was it.”
And asked when the gravity of the murder charge sank in, he replied: “I would say when I was sitting on the truck, on the way to prison, like, this is really happening. I had lost my freedom, lost my job, lost my house, normality was just blown away that night.”
Monique, seeing how Ben was struggling to cope, took their daughter to see him in prison every week, where she said her first word, which was dad.
Public anger at his incarceration grew, and he was eventually released on bail six weeks later, but had to go into hiding after receiving death threats.
And when Monique was asked whether she ever questioned Ben about why he chased the intruder instead of letting him go, she was defiant. She said: “No, he was in my daughter’s room. I don’t blame him for any of it and I don’t think it’s your fault that we had to go through it all.”
During the murder trial in November 2019, experts found Slater’s death was caused by high levels of meth in his system and an existing heart condition after years of drug abuse. Ben, who has been diagnosed with PTSD, was found to have acted lawfully and was found not guilty.
During the trial, jurors were not told Slater had raped a girl in 2007 after forcing his way into her home and threatning to stab her.
Justice Fagan said Ben should never have been charged with murder, and a trial should never have taken place. He added: “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.
“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.”
Ben recently filed a civil claim against the State of NSW in the Supreme Court seeking damages for wrongful prosecution, and a settlement has now been reached, with details not to be disclosed.
Despite being a free man, Ben has continued to suffer in the past decade, and his relationship with Monique has broken down.
He said the whole situation was tragic, both for him after being labelled a criminal, and the man who lost his life.
Asked what his biggest mistake was, he replied: “You could say my biggest mistake was running out the door. But was that a mistake at the time? Someone breaks into your home, that’s your castle, that’s your home, people should always defend their home, no matter what.”
And as for regrets, he concluded: “No — I’ve done what any father would have done.”
