Every Parent's Nightmare ― Jock Palfreeman and the True Story of His Father's Fight to Save Him from a Lifetime in a Bulgarian Jail

What would you do if your son was jailed for life in a hellhole of a Bulgarian prison for a crime you believe he didn't commit? In 2009, young Australian traveler Jock Palfreeman was found guilty of the murder of Andrei Monov, the only son of two people well connected in the Sofia legal fraternity. Jock claims he went to the defense of gypsies being attacked by Monov and a bunch of soccer hooligans, but the Bulgarians claim it was an act of cold-blooded murder. In a case of many twists and turns, where vital evidence was kept out of court and crucial witnesses never called, Belinda Hawkins brings to life the legal battle that haunted two shattered families on opposite sides of the globe. She also reminds us of the dangers we all confront when traveling to worlds very different to our own. But it is the attempts by Jock's father, Simon Palfreeman, to obtain justice for his son, and the terrifying emotional cost involved that are at the heart of this book. This is the harrowing story of what happens when worlds collide. It is also the powerful and heartbreaking story of one father's fight to prove his son's innocence.

Belinda Hawkins is an award-winning senior journalist on ABC TV's Australian Story. This is her first book.