Joe Karam

Joseph Francis Karam (born 21 November 1951), also known by the nickname of "Clock", is a New Zealand former representative rugby footballer who played for the All Blacks. After retiring from rugby, he became a businessman. However, he is most notable for waging a successful 15-year campaign to have David Bain's convictions for murder overturned, and a subsequent campaign seeking compensation for him.

Background Karam was born in Taumarunui to a Lebanese father and an Irish mother. He grew up on the family farm near Raurimu and attended St Patrick's College, Silverstream.

Rugby union career A first XV player at Saint Patrick's, Karam scored 138 of the schools 239 points during the 1967 season. That year he was a North Island secondary schoolboys representative.

He spent the 1971 season with Horowhenua. He was selected for Wellington's South Island tour in 1972, becoming the youngest-ever player picked to represent Wellington. An extremely hard trainer at a club level, Karam was named as an All Black for the 1972–73 tour of the British Isles and France. He played 10 test matches for the All Blacks between 1972 and 1975. He played in one game for Auckland in 1977, kicking six goals.

By the final year of his contract, Karam couldn't break into the Glenora side, being succeeded by Warwick Freeman. He reportedly found the tackling work rate to be far more demanding than in rugby union.

Support for David Bain

Karam is known for his many years of support for David Bain, who was convicted in 1995 of murdering all five members of his family. Karam's research and sustained pressure on the justice system culminated in an appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the United Kingdom in May 2007, at which Bain's conviction was overturned. The Privy Council found there had been a substantial miscarriage of justice, quashed his convictions and ordered a retrial. After his convictions were quashed, Karam allowed Bain to stay at his house in the Waikato on bail prior to the retrial two years later. Bain stayed for about three months before moving to Auckland. The new trial was held in 2009 and Bain was found not guilty on all five charges.

Without Karam's support, it is unlikely there would ever have been a retrial. His interest in the case began in 1996, when he read a newspaper article about "an old music teacher and a bunch of young, long-haired university students" trying to raise money for Bain's appeal by selling jam. He went and gave them money. He began to study the evidence presented at the original trial and began to feel something was wrong with the case. He went to visit Bain in prison in Christchurch and subsequently visited him over 200 times.

Karam was paid $424,480 by Legal Services for his legal work in support of David Bain. Commissioner Nigel Fyfe approved the payment describing Karam's "unique circumstances", and said his legal assistance to Bain's defence was "exceptional" and the "equivalent to a non-qualified legal executive..."

Personal cost Karam says the crusade cost him millions. He spent it in his pursuit of the case and ended up living in 15 to 20 different rental houses over the past decade while trying to prove Bain's innocence. He sued journalist Rosemary McLeod over an article that cast doubt on his motives for supporting Bain. They settled out of court.

In 2012, Karam began legal proceedings against Kent Parker and Victor Purkiss for defamation. Parker and Purkiss were opposed to David Bain receiving compensation and made numerous derogatory comments about Karam on a number of websites. Parker admitted the defamation under cross-examination and was ordered to pay $350,500. Purkiss, who made defamatory posts on Facebook and the website Counterspin, was ordered to pay $184,500.

Karam was also awarded $64,774 in costs, and $11,350 disbursements. Journalist Jock Anderson said it was unlikely Karam would ever receive any of the money because Purkiss left the country and Parker was bankrupt.

The Innocence Project Karam believes that it took 13 years to get Bain's conviction overturned shows how flawed the New Zealand justice system is. In 2007 he said he planned to set up an organisation similar to the Innocence Project in the US, where those with skills and resources offer their help pro bono, like Keith Hunter and Mike Kalaugher (the Scott Watson campaigners). In 2013, the project was re-launched out of the University of Otago , and has now been officially accepted as a branch of the Global Innocence network, becoming the world's 63rd innocence project.

Following the Privy Council decision to overturn the murder convictions of Mark Lundy, Karam said the Lundy case shows again that "an independent body is needed to review potential miscarriages of justice". Mark Lundy was convicted at his retrial in 2015.

Publications Joe Karam: David and Goliath: the Bain family murders (Auckland: Reed, 1997) Joe Karam: Bain and Beyond (Auckland: Reed, 2000) Joe Karam: (Auckland: Pohutakawa Productions, 2001) Joe Karam: Trial By Ambush: The Prosecutions Of David Bain (HarperCollins)