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You can listen to The Front on your

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the news from the Australian. From

0:23

the Australian, here's what's on the front. I'm

0:25

Claire Harvey. Christopher

0:32

Michael Dawson will stay in jail.

0:34

He has lost an appeal against

0:37

his conviction for the murder of

0:39

his wife Lynette. That

0:41

case was made famous by our

0:43

podcast The Teacher's Pet and has

0:45

ended in another humiliation for Dawson.

0:48

Today, the moment Lynne's family

0:50

found out Dawson would stay

0:52

in jail and what

0:54

his next move might be. Hello.

1:01

Oh, hi Marilyn, it's Claire. Hi

1:04

Claire. How

1:07

are you? That

1:12

is the longest minute

1:14

in my entire seven-way living.

1:21

Just moments after a momentous decision,

1:24

the latest twist in the story

1:26

of Christopher Michael Dawson, I

1:28

rang Greg and Marilyn Sims, the brother

1:30

and sister-in-law of the wife Chris murdered

1:33

in 1982, Lynette. While

1:37

waiting for the judges to come out, they're

1:40

verdict, if you want to call it that, very

1:42

tense and it's the

1:44

longest minute I've had in my life. Waiting

1:48

and listening. To call

1:50

Greg and Marilyn relieved would be

1:52

an understatement. Greg and

1:55

Marilyn are the guardians of Lynne's memory, along

1:57

with the rest of her family. They're

1:59

the ones who have kept the flame alive for 42

2:01

years, as

2:04

their suspicions grew that their

2:06

bright, warm, devoted Lynn did

2:08

not voluntarily leave her family

2:10

as her husband claimed, but

2:12

had been murdered in cold blood. Greg

2:16

and Marilyn had liked and

2:18

trusted Chris, Lynn's handsome, football-playing

2:21

teacher husband. They were

2:23

deeply confused and upset when he told

2:25

Lynn's family in 1982 that

2:28

Lynn had gone away for a break and that

2:30

Lynn had told him not to worry about her.

2:33

By the time the Australian's investigative podcast,

2:36

The Teacher's Pet, created by our colleague,

2:38

Headley Thomas, was released in 2018, Greg

2:41

and Marilyn were convinced Chris was

2:43

a murderer. They'd seen

2:46

an inept initial police investigation,

2:48

then a competent investigation led

2:50

by Detective Damian Loon, then

2:53

two coroners recommend charges against

2:56

Chris, and then the heartbreak

2:58

of prosecutors steadfastly declining to

3:00

charge him. In August 2022,

3:02

the family finally got the

3:06

conviction they believed was right.

3:10

Christopher Michael Dawson on the charge that on

3:12

about January 1982 at Bayview, or

3:16

elsewhere in the state of New South Wales, you

3:19

did murder Lynette Dawson, I

3:21

find you guilty. And

3:23

then the sense of dread returned

3:26

as Dawson launched an appeal against

3:29

that murder conviction. Teacher's

3:31

pet killer, Chris Dawson, has begun

3:33

an appeal against his conviction for

3:35

murdering wife Lynette more than four

3:37

decades ago. A

3:40

75-year-old former rugby league star wants a

3:42

court to overturn his conviction for killing

3:44

his wife Lynette in 1982. His

3:48

legal team claims he is the victim

3:50

of a miscarriage of justice and that

3:52

it was unreasonable for the trial judge

3:54

to find him guilty. I

3:56

spoke to Greg and Marilyn in the early

3:58

afternoon on Thursday, shortly before... the New

4:00

South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal handed down

4:02

its decision. They were nervous

4:05

then, and by the time the 2pm hearing

4:07

clicked around, they told me they had knots

4:09

in their stomachs. The judges

4:11

swept into the room and took their

4:14

seats for what turned out to be

4:16

a lightning quick sitting of the Court

4:18

of Criminal Appeal, New South Wales' highest

4:20

court. The judge's words are

4:22

being read by voice actors. I

4:26

propose the following orders. One,

4:28

grant leave to appeal. Two, dismiss

4:30

the appeal. I publish my reasons.

4:33

Justice Payne. I agree

4:35

with the orders proposed by Justice Adamson, and

4:38

I publish a note of my reasons. I

4:41

agree with Justice Adamson and

4:43

with the supplementary observations of Justice

4:45

Payne, and I publish my concurring

4:48

judgement. The orders of

4:50

the Court will therefore be, one,

4:52

grant leave to appeal. Two,

4:54

dismiss the appeal. Court

4:56

is now adjourned. In

4:59

other words, the judge's accepted Chris Dawson

5:01

could appeal to the Court, heard the

5:03

appeal and rejected it. His

5:05

conviction for Lynne's murder stands. The

5:09

judge's published reasons made it

5:11

crystal clear. First, Justice Anthony

5:14

Payne. I have no

5:16

doubt about the applicant's guilt. Justice

5:19

Julie Ward. The

5:21

circumstantial case against the applicant was

5:23

compelling and there is no reasonable

5:25

doubt as to the applicant's guilt.

5:27

No substantial miscarriage of justice has

5:29

occurred. Justice Christine Adamson.

5:31

None of the arguments advanced on behalf

5:34

of the applicant causes me to doubt

5:36

the applicant's guilt of murder. Chris Dawson

5:42

We are extremely happy and

5:44

the law has done the right thing in our

5:46

minds. And what do

5:48

you hope Chris Dawson does now? Chris Dawson

5:51

I hope he sits back in his

5:53

cell and enjoys the next 20 years.

5:55

Loretta And we both feel that this

5:58

won't be the end. He will keep pushing. Oh,

6:00

he'll grow as far as he can. We're

6:02

very grateful that justice has been done as

6:04

far as we're concerned, twice over now. And

6:08

hopefully, if he's going to

6:10

proceed any further, we just hope

6:12

that whoever has to make the decision as to

6:14

whether he's allowed to proceed any further, really

6:17

thinks carefully about using the public

6:19

purse. Enough's enough. I think

6:22

this money needs other very

6:24

worthwhile causes as well. This

6:29

should be the last time we see

6:31

Christopher Michael Dawson in a courtroom. But

6:33

it won't be. This

6:36

humiliation, his appeal flatly rejected by

6:38

the Court of Criminal Appeal, means

6:41

Dawson should finally accept the decision of

6:43

Justice Ian Harrison of August 2022. It's

6:47

still possible he could appeal to the

6:49

High Court of Australia. The High Court

6:51

doesn't hear every case. First, Dawson would

6:53

have to persuade the Public Defender's Office

6:55

to take his appeal. To be

6:57

heard by the High Court, he would first

6:59

have to seek special leave to appeal, and

7:02

would have to demonstrate that it was a matter

7:04

worthy of the High Court's consideration. The

7:07

Court says bluntly on its website, only

7:09

cases of major importance are heard by

7:11

the High Court. Usually,

7:13

that means the case raises some new point

7:15

of law that hasn't been considered before, or

7:18

is of high public importance, or

7:20

that a High Court hearing is essential

7:23

to clarify a question of law that

7:25

has been decided in inconsistent ways by

7:27

lower courts. The Court

7:29

might hear something that involves a question

7:31

of the administration of justice, that is,

7:34

a case that is highly significant, not

7:36

just for one person, but for a

7:38

whole legal system. Dawson

7:42

has tried this before and failed.

7:44

During the years in which he was fighting the Crown's

7:47

right to take him to trial at all, he sought

7:49

to have the whole case thrown out. The

7:51

Supreme Court rejected him, so he went to

7:53

the Court of Criminal Appeal, which also rejected

7:55

him. He then sought special leave to appeal to

7:58

the High Court and was knocked back. Dawson

8:01

also has another criminal conviction for

8:03

the unlawful carnal knowledge of a

8:05

16-year-old school girl who was in

8:07

his class, when he was desperate

8:10

to get rid of Lyn and be with the

8:12

girl. Indeed, after Lyn's

8:14

disappearance, Dawson married the former

8:16

pupil. In 2023, the

8:18

New South Wales District Court found Dawson

8:20

guilty of the carnal knowledge offence and

8:22

sentenced him to three years imprisonment. He

8:25

could, of course, also appeal that

8:27

conviction and sentence. What

8:29

are you guys going to do now? I

8:31

think probably field of a few phone calls.

8:33

We've already had dozens of texts. It's just

8:35

so lovely to have the support. The people

8:38

in Australia and possibly the world have just

8:40

been so behind this and

8:42

behind this conviction holding. And we

8:44

value very much the support and

8:46

comfort we've received from so

8:49

many people far and wide. Lots

8:52

of people very invested in this story, Claire. So

8:59

here's how Chris Dawson tried to get

9:01

out of the murder conviction, where Justice

9:04

Harrison found he killed Lyn Sims on

9:06

or about the 8th of January 1982.

9:10

Dawson had five grounds. First,

9:13

that Dawson suffered a significant forensic

9:15

disadvantage in defending himself when the

9:17

matter was finally brought to trial

9:19

40 years after Lyn

9:21

vanished from Sydney's northern beaches. That

9:25

means evidence like statements, records and receipts

9:27

have disappeared or been destroyed. And it

9:29

makes it a lot harder for Dawson

9:31

to back up his version of events.

9:35

Here's what Dawson's barrister, Belinda Rigg SC,

9:37

said about that in court. She's

9:39

referring to the account of the late

9:41

Sue Butland, who said she saw someone

9:43

who looked like Lyn Sims getting into

9:45

a car at a fruit market on

9:47

the New South Wales Central Coast. Belinda

9:50

Rigg's words are being read aloud by a

9:53

voice actor. detail

10:00

has been lost because of the delay.

10:03

All we have is an impoverished hearsay

10:05

account from her former husband. Rick

10:08

said Justice Harrison got it wrong when

10:10

he failed to find a significant forensic

10:13

disadvantage existed and that he should have

10:15

taken it into account when considering the

10:17

evidence presented at Dawson's 10-week trial. But

10:20

the three-judge bench said Justice Harrison

10:22

did adequately consider the fact many

10:24

witnesses were now deceased and unable

10:26

to give evidence in court. I

10:31

consider that for the reasons given by

10:33

the trial judge his honor was correct

10:35

to consider that the unavailability of Philip

10:38

Day, Elva McBay, Ross Hutchin and Sue

10:40

Butland did not cause significant forensic disadvantage

10:42

to the applicant. They

10:45

also said the unavailability of paperwork like

10:47

bank statements, phone records and employee rosters

10:49

didn't put Chris Dawson so far behind

10:52

the eight ball that he couldn't have

10:54

mounted a solid defense at trial. No

10:57

error of process or result has

10:59

been established. The

11:01

second and third ground of Chris Dawson's appeal are

11:03

two sides of the same coin. They

11:06

say Justice Ian Harrison was wrong to

11:08

find that Chris Dawson's lies were evidence

11:10

of his consciousness of guilt. Basically

11:13

that means Harrison found Dawson knew

11:15

he was guilty and so told

11:18

a bunch of lies about Lynn's

11:20

purported whereabouts in order to cover

11:22

his tracks. The

11:25

public defender for Dawson, Belinda Rigg

11:27

SC argued Harrison gave inadequate reasons

11:29

for relying on those lies as

11:31

evidence of Dawson's guilt. Rigg

11:34

also argued Crown prosecutor Craig Everson

11:36

didn't rely upon those lies as

11:38

part of his case and so

11:40

Harrison shouldn't have either. Justices

11:43

Ward, Adamson and Payne agreed. They

11:45

said the language in Justice Harrison's

11:47

judgment was ambiguous. The

11:50

trial judges reasons revealed error and did not

11:52

comply with section 133 2 of the Criminal

11:54

Procedure Act

11:56

or the common law obligation to give

11:58

reasons. Okay, deep breath

12:01

here. This is complicated stuff. The accepted

12:03

rule is that a lie can only

12:05

be used as an implied admission of

12:07

guilt if the prosecutor relies on the

12:09

lie for that purpose. So a

12:11

judge or jury, in this case a judge,

12:13

can only find a lie as consciousness of

12:15

guilt if the prosecutor has also put it

12:18

that way. And the prosecutor has to prove

12:20

a few key things. The lie has to

12:22

be deliberate, it has to be a lie

12:24

told because the accused knew the truth would

12:26

implicate them in the offence, and

12:29

it's made clear to the judge or jury that

12:31

there may be other reasons for the lie. And

12:33

this is where Justice Harrison made a

12:35

mistake, according to the Court of Appeal.

12:37

They said Justice Harrison took the lies

12:40

that the Crown prosecutor said were consciousness

12:42

of guilt, but also referenced other lies

12:44

by Dawson and didn't make clear which

12:47

ones he thought were consciousness of guilt.

12:50

This was an error in his honest reasoning. The

12:54

fourth round of Dawson's appeal was that the

12:56

evidence proving Lynn was dead after January 9,

13:00

1982 was inadequate, and the Crown prosecutor

13:02

didn't prove Dawson's guilt beyond a reasonable

13:04

doubt. But the Court of

13:07

Criminal Appeal judges backed Justice Harrison. Having

13:10

reviewed all of the evidence, I am not

13:12

persuaded that the verdict of guilty of murder

13:14

was unreasonable. None of the

13:16

arguments advanced on behalf of the applicant by

13:18

Ms Rigg causes me to doubt the applicant's

13:21

guilt of murder. Coming

13:25

up, what the Court of Appeal found

13:27

about what happened at Northbridge Bards. Stay

13:30

with us. The

13:41

final ground of Chris Dawson's appeal was

13:43

that a miscarriage of justice occurred when

13:45

Justice Ann Harrison found Chris Dawson guilty

13:47

of the murder of Lynn Sims. This

13:50

was all about the fine detail of

13:53

what happened at Northbridge Bards, the public

13:55

ocean pool where Dawson worked as a

13:57

lifeguard on the day after Lynn's disappearance.

14:01

Dawson has always claimed he took a phone call from

14:03

Lynne when he was working at the baths on January

14:05

9, 1982. Dawson

14:08

had taken his two young daughters there

14:10

on that hot January day and recruited

14:13

Lynne's mum, Helena, and a friend, Phillip

14:15

Day, to help look after them. He

14:18

said he'd dropped Lynne at a bus stop

14:20

in Mona Vale earlier that day and she'd

14:22

join them at some point in the afternoon.

14:26

Then, Dawson says, he received a call from

14:28

Lynne at the kiosk at the baths, saying

14:30

she was going away for a while. But

14:32

after 40 long years, the people who

14:34

were at the baths on that day couldn't remember

14:36

if the call happened, or if it

14:39

did, if it was Lynne on the other end. Just

14:42

as Harrison found this story of Dawson's was

14:44

a lie, that there was no phone call,

14:46

and Dawson knew it. This

14:48

is the point the public defender argued

14:50

with. Rigg said Harrison was wrong in

14:53

his interpretation of this alleged lie. Rigg

14:56

also said the crown had not actually proved

14:58

Lynne was dead on this day. On

15:01

Thursday, Justices Ward, Adamson and

15:03

Payne found no miscarriage of

15:06

justice occurred. On

15:18

the evening of 8 January 1982, or the

15:20

morning of 9 January 1982, the

15:23

trial judge had regard to the whole

15:25

of the evidence as sufficiently indicated by

15:27

his honours reasons. Lynne's

15:34

story has really touched people. It

15:36

really has. And I think we've

15:39

all said this case has just been such

15:41

a landmark case and it continues to be.

15:43

There's just, it'll go

15:45

down in history as, I don't know, putting

15:48

benchmarks and making benchmarks for

15:50

future law and pretty

15:53

astounding. I think the

15:55

best thing that we've done, we've had the

15:57

arrest, we've had all the

15:59

courts up for it. meals and all that sort

16:01

of thing. And then we've had the trial, we've had

16:03

a guilty verdict. We've got

16:05

Lyn's law into operation and we're

16:08

going to sit back and say,

16:11

we've done the best we can and go

16:14

from there and now we can

16:16

try and live our lives again. Let's

16:18

hope and pray we can. Yeah. Yeah. Let's hope

16:20

we're free to move on now. These

16:23

three eminent judges agree with you that Chris

16:25

did kill Lyn. Yeah. I

16:28

just kept having goosebumps and shivers

16:30

there. Yeah.

16:33

Yeah. It'll hit home soon, but it takes me a

16:35

while to think here. I think sitting here tonight

16:37

watching the news and when it comes on, we'll

16:39

just go, oh bugger. Okay.

16:43

There she is again. Yeah. There's

16:45

always something that comes back in

16:47

relation to it, but we know

16:49

we've got this one and now

16:51

let's hope he just hasn't enough sense to say, I've

16:53

tried to get out of it. They won't

16:55

listen to me. I'll just do them at time. Who

17:05

had the best Aussie song of all

17:07

time? Was it Daddy Cool, Yothi Yindi

17:09

or Akadaka? Andrew McMillan and Alan Howe

17:12

have whittled the long list of brilliant

17:14

Australian made tunes down to just 60

17:16

in honour of the paper's 60th anniversary.

17:18

You can read the full list of

17:21

the best Australian songs of all time

17:23

right now at theaustralian.com.au. Thanks

17:27

for joining us on the front this

17:29

week. Our team is Kristin Amiot, Leah

17:31

Tamagloo, Joshua Burton, Jass the Leak, Tiffany

17:33

Dimac, Matthew Condon and me, Claire Harvey.