Former Adelaide lawyer and army veteran Mark Adam Freer jailed for ‘extraordinary’ breach of trust

A former Adelaide lawyer and army veteran who ripped off a family member and filed a false affidavit with the Supreme Court has learned his fate for the crimes.

Former lawyer and army veteran Mark Adam Freer has been jailed for ripping off a family member and filing a false affidavit with the Supreme Court. Picture: Matt Turner.

A former Adelaide lawyer stole thousands of dollars from a family member and filed a false affidavit with the Supreme Court in an “extraordinary” breach of trust which brought the legal profession into disrepute, a court has heard.

Mark Adam Freer, 52, was jailed for the offending which District Court Judge Paul Slattery said struck at the heart of public confidence in the legal profession.

The army veteran was working as a lawyer for the now defunct CBD law firm Warmings Solicitors in 2014-15 when he deposited two cheques totalling $67,500 on behalf of his cousin into a bank account he created, instead of the trust account of the law firm.

At trial, the court heard he withdrew all the money from the account within six weeks and spent it on expenses including credit card and rent payments, and at Coles, The Good Guys and Officeworks.

He also filed a false affidavit with the Supreme Court in the name of his aunt.

In sentencing, Judge Slattery said the seriousness of Freer’s conduct “cannot be underestimated”.

“The swearing of a false affidavit in the name of another and the opportunistic theft by you as a solicitor, of monies from a client and close family member, are extraordinary breaches of trust which constitute a gross departure from the expected conduct of legal practitioners in whom such trust is placed,” he said.

Mark Freer pictured near the Torrens Parade Ground in 2020 in Adelaide. Picture: Matt Turner

“Such conduct brings the legal profession into disrepute in the eyes of the wider community.”

Freer – who served in the Australian Army for 27 years prior to becoming a lawyer – had told the court he was treated with the anti-malarial mefloquine while on active service in East Timor which affected his cognitive capacity and caused his life to spiral.

“You believed that mefloquine administered to you while you were in service ‘fried your brain’,” Judge Slattery said.

He said experts found Freer had complex mental health problems caused by his history of military service. He was assessed as being “totally and permanently incapacitated”.

Freer was found guilty of a charge of aggravated theft and had pleaded guilty to a charge of fabricating evidence.

Judge Slattery said Freer’s offending had caused his victims stress, pain and anguish and was extremely serious.

“Your offending strikes at the heart of public confidence in the legal profession in the administration of justice generally,” he said.

“It should be made clear to other legal practitioners in the community that such offending is inexcusable and is to be regarded as the most serious breach of the professional obligation to which all legal practitioners are beholden.”

Judge Slattery imposed a jail term of almost three years and 11 months. He set a non-parole period of 20 months which was backdated to the time Freer’s bail was revoked on October 26, 2022.