“It is time for calm and nothing is to be achieved by any ill-considered and possibly ill-informed comment on this matter,” she said in a statement circulated to the media last week.

The reputation of the judiciary has been shaken in recent weeks when comments made by District Court Judge Sarah Bradley at a 2005 gang-rape trial were made public. It was reported by The Australian newspaper that the Cairns-based District Court judge did not record convictions for six male perpetrators at Aurukun Indigenous community in Cape York, commenting at the time that the 10-year-old child victim “probably agreed” to have sex with them.

Mahon has censured the media for its reporting of the story: “Personal attacks on any member of the judiciary are utterly intolerable and should be rejected completely … Neither the media nor any community group — however sincere and well-meaning their motives might be in this matter — should try and supplant the due process of our justice system which is a robust one with inbuilt checks and balances.”

The Queensland Attorney-General, Kerry Shine, has indicated that an appeal has been filed against the decision.