Dear Mr Blunden

If anyone has read the Victorian Occupational Health and Safety Act (2004), James Hird’s job description, the Essendon Organisation Chart and the AFL/Essendon/Players’ Tripartite employment contract, I should like them to try and present a case as to what James Hird did wrong. Until then, they should stop stating or implying he did anything wrong.

Only people with agendas or idiots on the Binet scale assign 2012 coaches with 1960s coach’s responsibilities. Please see below the vast majority of jobs the coach was responsible for in the 1960s. These days at Essendon, 129 people are employed to do things you believe Hird was responsible. I suspect the only place with more fancy titles will be Harry and Meagan’s wedding. It is interesting that there isn’t a designated OH&S manager. Perhaps James is still responsible for not making such an appointment!!! 

Unlike the AFL commissioners (including Andrew Demetriou, Richard Goyder and the Victorian Governor Linda Dessau), the Essendon board, Gill McLachlan, Brett Clothier, Dr Harcourt, Adrian Anderson, the AFL human resources director, the AFL OH&S manager, Paul Hamilton, Dean Robinson, the Essendon human resources manager, the Essendon OH&S manager to name just a few, James Hird fulfilled all his legal obligations. 

On the other hand, the following allegations, which I am confidently satisfied with, warrant investigating:

1. The AFL conspired with ASADA, the Essendon board (represented by Chairman David Evans and Chief Executive Ian Robson) and the Federal government, on 9 February 2013 to fix the result of the investigation before the first witness was interviewed.
   
   (A POSSIBLE CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY)
   
   
2. The Essendon board endorsed the agreement reached by the AFL, ASADA and the Gillard government.
   
   (A POSSIBLE CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY)
   
   
3. The action of AFL Chief Executive Andrew Demetriou continually implying in the media that Essendon and Hird were guilty.
   
   (A POSSIBLE BREACH OF THEIR RIGHT TO PROCEDURAL FAIRNESS)
   
   
4. The AFL briefed the proposed jury (the AFL Commissioners) on the evidence before the investigation was completed.
   
   (A POSSIBLE SUBORNING OF DECISION MAKERS AND INTERFERING WITH THE PROCESS OF JUSTICE)
   
   
5. The AFL informed the jury before the investigation was completed that the Essendon Football Club, James Hird, Danny Corcoran and Mark Thompson were guilty.
   
   (A POSSIBLE SUBORNING OF DECISION MAKERS, INTERFERING WITH THE PROCESS OF JUSTICE AND PERVERTING THE COURSE OF JUSTICE)
   
   
6. The AFL informed the jury before the investigation was completed what some of the penalties would be.
   
   (A POSSIBLE PERVERTING THE COURSE OF JUSTICE)
   
   
7. The AFL bullied and blackmailed the Essendon Football Club, James Hird, Danny Corcoran and Mark Thompson to accept the penalties before charges were laid.
   
   (A POSSIBLE CRIMINAL DURESS TO PERVERT THE COURSE OF JUSTICE)
   
   
8. The Essendon board agreed to the fraud in order to mitigate the threat of more severe penalties.
   
   (A POSSIBLE CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY)
   
   
9. ASADA changed evidence; omitted evidence; and fabricated evidence to help the AFL create a case against Essendon, Hird, Corcoran and Thompson.
   
   (A POSSIBLE PERVERTING THE COURSE OF JUSTICE AND PERJURY)
   
   
10. The AFL denied Hird procedural fairness by wanting him stood aside as coach before he was even interviewed.
    
    (A POSSIBLE INTERFERING IN THE COURSE OF JUSTICE)
    
    
11. At the AFL’s behest, on 25 June 2013, David Evans asked James Hird if he would agree to be suspended and Essendon be banned from playing in the finals-series.
    
    (A POSSIBLE INTERFERING IN THE COURSE OF JUSTICE)
    
    
12. On separate occasions, deputy AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan (26 June 2013) and Andrew Demetriou (24 July 2013) asked Ms Andruska to omit information from the interim report. Those omissions may have contributed to the AFL being able to defraud Essendon of $2 million.
    
    (A POSSIBLE INTERFERING IN THE COURSE OF JUSTICE AND CONSPIRACY TO PERVERT THE COURSE OF JUSTICE)
    
    
13. The AFL asked ASADA to include things in the interim report in order to prove guilt. This contributed to the AFL defrauding Essendon of $2 million.
    
    (A POSSIBLE CONSPIRACY AND PERJURY)
    
    
14. ASADA chief investigator John Nolan tried to doctor the injection figures on 15 July 2013, in order to build the case against Essendon.
    
    (A POSSIBLE ATTEMPTED FORGERY AND CONSPIRACY)

Justice Middleton was not asked to adjudicate on any of the matters that I have outlined above and he did not do so. 

To my knowledge, there has never been an investigation into these matters that I raise.

These matters alleged are of a criminal nature and should have been properly investigated but were not because of what appears to be a “rush to judgement” and a “preconceived outcome”.

It is disgraceful that lives and reputations have been so egregiously ruined in such a fraudulent and unjust way.

I have spent over 12,000 hours and distributed over one million words to tens of thousands of people in seeking to bring the truth to the light of day. The evidence that I have obtained could have been obtained by honest and fair-minded investigators but it was not.

Everything in this whole shameful disgraceful saga speaks of conspiracy, duplicity, lies, interference with the truth in order to arrive at a preconceived outcome with the setting up of “sacrificial lambs”.

If I am right in this regard then this whole Essendon doping saga’s conduct is unbecoming of a civilised society under the rule of law.

Such conduct should be investigated thoroughly given the importance of this matter and if found to be so it should be exposed and the relevant participants be brought to justice. 

Bruce Francis