Magistrate Ed King has renewed calls for court stenographers to be employed to make independent records of court proceedings.

For the success of the appeal hinged on whose record of events was to be believed -- and both Mr. King and defence attorney Juliana Jack produced written records which contradicted each other.

Magistrates and judges act as the official recorder when overseeing a trial, taking notes in longhand at the same time as making sure that the letter of the law is obeyed.

But yesterday Chief Justice Austin Ward said that Ms Jack's account of events should be admissible because it was supported by two other witnesses -- her secretary, who made notes during proceedings, and her client. Furthermore, all three accounts were supplied in written affidavits to the appeals court and were not challenged by the Crown before yesterday's hearing.

Lawyer Saul Froomkin said that Mr. King's memory of events was "faulty'', highlighting several statements which he recorded which all three appellant witnesses contradicted.

"On page three of the record the magistrate's comment states that, during the course of her cross examination, Ms Jack alluded to a newspaper article and asked him whether he was making a complete record of proceedings,'' Mr.

Froomkin said.

"This is not what happened. Ms Jack did not allude in any way to any newspaper article.'' Mr. Froomkin also dismissed Mr. King's recollection of another incident in the trial when Ms Jack asked him to make a record of a ruling.

Last night Ms Jack said the case highlighted the importance of having a correct record of court proceedings.

"Without that we wouldn't have had an argument,'' she said.

"It just goes to show what we have been saying for a long time -- that we need independent court recorders to make an accurate report of proceedings.'' Senior Magistrate Will Francis said the case illustrated the problem that magistrates and judges had when trying to make a record of events while presiding over a case at the same time.

"It's not easy trying to do the two at the same time,'' he said.

"There are times when you don't want to slow up a cross examination and things can also get quite heated in a court room. Yes, I would certainly go along with what Ms Jack is saying but I'm afraid it's a question of getting the money to make it available.''