Kiefel CJ
Bell J
Gageler J
Keane J
Nettle J
Gordon J
Edelman J
24.
(iii) The timing of the assaults and the "hive of activity"
Potter was responsible for the security of the sacristies and he had the key to the priests' sacristy, which was locked during Mass. Potter's evidence about when he unlocked it was unclear. Initially he said that he did so as the procession was making its way down the centre aisle while the recessional hymn was being played. Potter went on to explain that, at the conclusion of the Mass, some congregants would walk up to the sanctuary area and kneel to pray. He allowed them some five or six minutes of "private time" for prayer before he commenced removing the sacred vessels and other items from the sanctuary. Later in the course of examination-in-chief, Potter said that he did not unlock the priests' sacristy doors until after the five or six minutes of private prayer time.
The altar servers, Connor and McGlone, gave evidence that, at the conclusion of the procession, they went into the priests' sacristy and each bowed to the crucifix. McGlone explained that the formal procession following the celebration of solemn Mass is only complete for the altar servers when they enter the priests' sacristy in formation and bow to the crucifix in turn. Connor recalled that usually Potter was waiting for them and he unlocked the doors. McGlone recalled that sometimes the door from the vestibule opening into the sacristy corridor was locked and "usually [Potter] would appear out of nowhere and unlock it. Most times though it was unlocked when we were processing there." He recalled that the doors to the priests' sacristy were unlocked.
The altar servers assisted Potter in clearing the sanctuary. This took around ten minutes to a quarter of an hour. The chalices, ciboriums, cruet sets, tabernacle key and missals were all returned to the priests' sacristy. The candles (there were seven of them when the applicant celebrated Mass) and the thurible were returned to the utility room. The vessels and other items were carried one at a time. During this exercise people were continually coming into and going out of the priests' sacristy.
Neither Connor nor McGlone could recall any occasion on which the sacristy had been left unlocked and unattended. In Connor's experience, that never happened. Dr Cox, the assistant organist, described the priests' sacristy as a "hive of activity" after Mass. The choir marshal, Finnigan, recalled that after Mass there were "people everywhere" in the sacristy corridor, with people "coming in and going out", including altar servers bringing implements into the priests' sacristy. He said that there were almost always a number of other priests acting as concelebrants who would vest and de-vest in the priests' sacristy. They would
