In 1989 Roseanne Beckett was arrested and charged with nine offences against her then husband Barry Catt by corrupt NSW detective Peter Thomas. In 1991, she was sentenced and served ten years in prison and was labelled an ‘evil and manipulative woman.’ For 25 years, she has strongly asserted her innocence and claimed she herself was a victim of domestic abuse and that her step children were abused by Barry Catt.

Beckett was released in 2001 after fresh evidence emerged that a gun found in her bedroom had been planted by police. In 2004, an inquiry headed by a Supreme Court judge found that Crown witnesses had conspired to frame her and recommended that her convictions be quashed. Nevertheless, prosecuting authorities continued to insist she was guilty of all charges. Finally, the NSW Court of criminal appeal acquitted or dismissed all but two of eight charges, Roseanne has received no compensation for spending ten years in prison.

She sued the NSW Crown for malicious prosecution. The trial began in late July, 2014 and continued until November with Justice Harrison reserving his judgement.

On 24 August 2015, 26 years to the day since Roseanne was arrested, Justice Harrison found that Peter Thomas had malicious intent in his dealings with Roseanne and that he had intimidated and bullied many people including another witnesses in this case, an accused in another case and Family and Community Services Officers who had been prosecuting her ex husband Barry Catt for child abuse at the time of her arrest. He found that in relation to two of the original charges - perjury and solicitor to murder - Thomas and fellow Detective Paget had no reasonable basis to charge Roseanne. He awarded $2.3 million, plus interest and costs to Roseanne Beckett.