Former magistrate Rodney Higgins and the mother of his deceased fiancee have reached a settlement over Ashleigh Petrie’s superannuation and life insurance benefits following her death in 2019.
A Current Affair reported on Thursday night that a confidential settlement had been reached between the parties, two years after Ms Petrie’s death.
Ashleigh Petrie with Rodney Higgins.Credit:Instagram
The settlement is believed to be around half of the death benefits, ACA reported.
Mr Higgins told ACA in August he deserved 100 per cent of the benefits, reportedly worth about $180,000, but also agreed it should be shared.
The Age reported in June that Mr Higgins had claimed the superannuation death benefit and Rest Superannuation had decided it should go to the former magistrate in its entirety, despite Ms Petrie nominating her mother as beneficiary.
A coronial report found Ms Petrie, 23, died after she ran in front of a car in Metung, Gippsland, in the early hours of October 28, 2019.
Ms Petrie’s death came after her relationship with Mr Higgins, who was then a magistrate, was made public in 2019 by the Herald Sun, and sparked questions about power and workplace culture in the court.
The mother’s lawyer, Kimble Stynes, told ACA the settlement wouldn’t bring back his client’s daughter.
“She is a lady of modest means,” he said. “I know it’s a cliche, but she is a salt of the earth, hard-working lady living a modest life and also dealing with the very tragic death of her daughter.
“She will never replace the loss of her daughter, but this resolves the matter, a matter which she arguably never wanted to be involved with in the first place.”
Mr Higgins declined to answer questions when approached by ACA for comment.
Mr Stynes told ACA that his interview with Mr Higgins in August prompted better communications over the settlement.
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