Justice Ian Harrison has said Chris Dawson is likely to die in jail after he sentenced him to a minimum of 18 years in prison for the 1982 murder of his first wife, Lynette.
The sentence is backdated to August 30, when he was found guilty, and Dawson is first eligible for parole on August 30, 2040, at the age of 92.
Dawson’s full 24-year sentence would not expire until August 29, 2046, when he would be 98.
The NSW parliament passed new “no body, no parole” laws after Dawson was found guilty in August of murdering Lynette, whose body has never been found. The laws “make it impossible for offenders who willfully and deliberately refuse to disclose information about their victims’ remains to be granted parole”, Premier Dominic Perrottet said in September.
Harrison did not consider the extensive media attention surrounding Dawson’s criminal charges and trial as a mitigating factor. “As harsh as it may sound to say so, Mr Dawson is now the author of his own misfortune,” Harrison said.
Dawson’s sentence should reflect “the disapprobation with which his self-indulgent brutality must be viewed by Australian society”, the judge said.
Dawson has filed a notice of intention to appeal against his conviction.
When she vanished from her northern beaches home in January 1982, Lynette Joy Simms left behind two adored daughters and a loving community of family and friends desperate for answers.
Forty years later, her then-husband Chris Dawson is likely to die in prison, Justice Ian Harrison said today as he sentenced the former teacher and Newtown Jets rugby league player to a maximum of 24 years in prison for her murder. Dawson maintains his innocence and has lodged an intention to appeal against his conviction.
Greg Simms (right) the brother of Lynette Dawson with his wife Merilyn Simms (left) leave the Law Courts building in Queens Square on Friday.Credit: Kate Geraghty
“Chris Dawson has had 40 years of freedom. Now, it’s our turn,” Lynette’s brother Greg Simms said.
Asked what freedom looked like, Simms paused.
“We don’t know what we’re going to do. We’ve been pursuing this for 40 years.” It was time, he said, to “find out what normal really is like”.
This is Michaela Whitbourn signing off on our live coverage. You can read more on the Dawson sentencing from my colleague Sarah McPheehere.
Dawson author of his own misfortune, not media: Judge
By Michaela Whitbourn
As noted earlier today, Justice Ian Harrison considered the effect on Chris Dawson of significant publicity, both before he was charged in 2018 with the 1982 murder of his wife Lynette and after charges were laid and the matter proceeded to trial.
When arriving at a sentence, judges may take into account extra-curial punishment, meaning punishment imposed on an offender other than by the court. This can include media coverage in some cases.
Journalist Hedley Thomas released his podcast, The Teacher’s Pet, in 2018.Credit: Kate Geraghty
Harrison said it was submitted on Dawson’s behalf “that in the course of this particular matter and over some considerable time, Mr Dawson has been exposed to what was described as ‘probably the most egregious publicity that one could consider in a context of the criminal law.’
“I was referred in this respect to the findings of [Justice Elizabeth Fullerton and the then Chief Justice Tom Bathurst in pre-trial decisions].
“Their respective conclusions were to the effect that the publicity generated by the Teacher’s Pet podcast [by Hedley Thomas, investigative journalist at The Australian] was the worst example of prejudicial publicity that they had experienced.
“The representations made by the authors of the podcast were said to have portrayed Mr Dawson as an evil, manipulative man, guilty of the crime of murder and otherwise as greedy and narcissistic.”
Harrison said the podcast involved “literally millions of downloads not only throughout NSW but Australia and the world. Mr Dawson and his family have been followed and subjected to unwanted scrutiny.
“The publicity affected Mr Dawson both physically and psychologically. It was submitted on Mr Dawson’s behalf that the generated publicity was not a reasonable reaction to the commission of the offence.”
But Harrison had a different view about the publicity, particularly in light of Dawson’s guilty verdict in August this year.
“The publicity that has attended this crime has undoubtedly been intense”, Harrison said, but “that is to some extent a function of the several decades over and during which speculation about Lynette Dawson’s fate has managed to foment.”
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“I would be sympathetic to Mr Dawson’s concern that the media attention will continue to have an adverse impact upon him if it were not for the fact that I am unable to agree that, whatever may have been the position before his trial, it will continue to be unfair following his conviction,” he said.
“Simply put, Mr Dawson’s crime is a matter of intense public interest and the attention he has received is directly referable to that interest.
“It would be otherwise if media reports had significantly misrepresented his crime in a way that created a false perception of what he had done.
“His major complaint, when properly understood, is that the publicity improperly made assumptions about his guilt at a time when he was entitled to the presumption of innocence. Mr Dawson has now been convicted of the crime which attracted the publicity in question. In those circumstances, as harsh as it may sound to say so, Mr Dawson is now the author of his own misfortune.”
Family remembers Lynette as ‘happy, gentle, generous, loving’
By Michaela Whitbourn
Lynette’s brother Greg Simms said outside court today that “for our family, Lyn will always be remembered as a happy, gentle, generous, loving daughter, sister, mother, niece and friend”.
It had been a “very long, painful and challenging journey”, Simms said after his former brother-in-law Chris Dawson was sentenced today to a maximum of 24 years in prison for murdering his then-wife Lynette, 33, in 1982.
Lynette Dawson on ABC’s Chequerboard program in 1975.
“At last we have justice for Lyn, and that was our main aim,” he said.
Dawson was not charged over his wife’s murder until December 2018. He was found guilty of the crime by Justice Ian Harrison in August this year.
“Chris Dawson discarded her; the Dawsons disregarded her; from today on, we would like her to be known and remembered as Lynette Joy Simms,” Greg Simms said.
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Senior public defender will act in Dawson’s appeal
By Michaela Whitbourn
Speaking outside court before 1pm today, Chris Dawson’s lawyer Greg Walsh said he hadn’t yet had a chance to speak to his client after the sentence was handed down.
Walsh said that for a number of reasons today would be his last day acting as Dawson’s lawyer. Dawson has filed a notice of intention to appeal against his conviction.
Chris Dawson’s older brother Peter Dawson (left) and defence lawyer Greg Walsh (right) leave the Law Courts building in Queens Square on Friday.Credit: Kate Geraghty
Senior public defender Belinda Rigg, SC, is expected to act in Dawson’s appeal.
“It doesn’t matter what my view is,” Walsh said of the case. “I have an ethical obligation to act in accordance with his instructions and I’ve at all times done that.
“But you’ve got to understand, and I’m sure you do, I’m a human being and this case, it’s a very, very sad case indeed. You see the family there and they’re suffering.”
He said Dawson “maintains his innocence. He is entitled to maintain his innocence.
“I can’t do any more than I’ve done. I can honestly look you in the face and say I’ve done my best, no doubt to help Lyn’s family, but I can’t do any more than that.”
Dawson treated wife Lynette as ‘completely dispensable’: Judge
By Michaela Whitbourn
In comments later echoed outside of court by Lynette’s brother Greg Simms, Justice Ian Harrison said in his sentencing remarks today that Chris Dawson had treated his then-wife as “completely dispensable”.
“Mr Dawson’s sentence should reflect the disapprobation with which his self-indulgent brutality must be viewed by Australian society,” he said, before sentencing Dawson to a maximum of 24 years in prison.
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Harrison said Dawson had murdered Lynette, then 33, in 1982 “for the selfish and cynical purpose of eliminating the inconvenient obstruction she presented to the creation of [a] ... new life with [babysitter and former student] JC”.
“Tragically her death deprived her young daughters of their mother so that a significant part of the harm caused to others, and by inference to the community, as a consequence of her death, is the sad fact that Lynette Dawson was treated by her husband, the father of the very same girls, as completely dispensable,” Harrison said.
Lynette’s brother Greg Simms said outside court that his sister should now be known by her maiden name.
“Chris Dawson discarded her; the Dawsons disregarded her; from today on, we would like her to be known and remembered as Lynette Joy Simms,” he said.
Police ‘hopeful’ about new information to find Lynette
By Michaela Whitbourn
The head of NSW’s homicide squad said a chapter had closed after Chris Dawson was sentenced today to a maximum of 24 years in prison for his wife Lynette’s murder in 1982 but police were hopeful new information may come to light about the location of her remains.
“Whilst the chapter is closing, the book’s still open, the case is still open, because we still haven’t found Lyn,” NSW Police homicide squad commander Danny Doherty said outside court.
Head of homicide Danny Doherty (right) addresses the media at the Law Courts building in Queens Square following the sentencing of Chris Dawson.Credit: Kate Geraghty
“And I’m sure while the family, rightly so, want to get on with their lives, we will keep this case open in case we do get information, and I hope that we do get information to be able to provide some dignity to Lyn and let the family lay her to rest.
“We were always hopeful that new evidence or information would come to hand. And we urge people to come forward if they have got information that’s going to be relevant and significant.”
But Doherty added that “we also don’t want to give false hope to the family”.
“This has been a long journey for them for 40 years. But, of course, we urge people to come forward and we accept and invite people to come forward.”
Asked if police would consider conducting another search, Doherty said: “Again, we’ve just had the sentence handed down, which we accept and respect, and we’re happy with that sentence.
“We’ll let the family also absorb what happened today, and we will obviously assess any other information and evidence that comes to hand.”
On the whereabouts of Lynette’s body: “The fact that Lynette Dawson’s body has never been located or recovered is an aggravating circumstance of the offence of murder. Concealment of the body is not limited in its significance to the absence of remorse,” Harrison said.
Justice Ian Harrison in August.Credit: Nine
On the seriousness of the offence: “Murder is uncontroversially a serious crime. In my opinion, the murder of Lynette Dawson is an objectively very serious crime.”
On the pre-meditation: “Mr Dawson planned to kill his wife. Whatever means Mr Dawson employed to kill her, he intended that result. He did so in a domestic context and in her own home.”
On the suffering caused by Dawson:“Mr Dawson must be taken to have known and appreciated the injury, emotional harm and loss that his actions were likely to cause to Lynette Dawson’s daughters and her other relatives.”
On the importance of the sentence signalling the community’s disapproval: “Mr Dawson’s sentence should reflect the disapprobation with which his self-indulgent brutality must be viewed by Australian society.”
Main photo: Chris Dawson before the announcement of the verdict in August. Inset: Dawson with Lynette on their wedding day in 1970.Credit: Kate Geraghty
On whether significant media attention was a mitigating factor on sentencing: “Simply put, Mr Dawson’s crime is a matter of intense public interest and the attention he has received is directly referable to that interest. It would be otherwise if media reports had significantly misrepresented his crime in a way that created a false perception of what he had done. Mr Dawson has now been convicted of the crime which attracted the publicity in question. In those circumstances, as harsh as it may sound to say so, Mr Dawson is now the author of his own misfortune.”
On the delay in Dawson being charged and prosecuted for the 1982 crime: “Mr Dawson has enjoyed 36 years in the community unimpeded by the taint of a conviction for killing his wife or by any punishment for doing so. In a practical sense, his denial of responsibility for that crime has benefited him in obvious ways ...I am unable to accept that Mr Dawson can legitimately embrace the alleged burdens of any delay without simultaneously being required to accept the benefits.”
On the length of sentence: “Mr Dawson is not old by contemporary standards but the reality is that he will not live to reach the end of his non-parole period or will alternatively, by reason of his deteriorating cognitive condition and physical capacity, become seriously disabled well before then even if he does. I am nevertheless required to impose a sentence that satisfies the community’s expectations of punishment, retribution and denunciation.”
‘Gavel of justice’ has fallen on Dawson: homicide squad boss
By Michaela Whitbourn
NSW Police homicide squad commander Danny Doherty also spoke outside court this afternoon and had this to say:
Today, the gavel of justice came down on Chris Dawson and signalled the final chapters of this challenging and protracted criminal investigation and judicial process.
I’d like to commend the spirit and thank the family for their unyielding spirit and their support and their search for the truth.
I’d like to commend the investigators, both prior investigators and current investigators. This has been, since 2015, with the Unsolved Homicide Team under Strike Force Scriven.
In early 2018, they submitted a compelling brief of evidence to the DPP which ultimately resulted in the arrest of Chris Dawson in late 2018.
I’d also like to acknowledge the efforts of the DPP - their professional advocacy in this matter has been outstanding. So, thank you.
Asked how the family felt about Chris Dawson’s appeal against his murder conviction, Lynette’s brother Greg Simms said: “He’s appealed everything else – he may as well go the full hog.
“As far as we’re concerned, today – for us – is it. That’s it. Finito.”
He said he saw “no emotion whatsoever” in Dawson today.
Simms said he believed Dawson would never reveal the location of his sister’s body.
“I think the main thing will be if someone comes across a grave or human remains – that’d be the only time that we’ll find out, through DNA,” he said.
Greg’s wife Merilyn said: “I think, as Greg said, no sentence is long enough for taking someone else’s life.
“But it was very interesting to hear the way the judge came about making that decision. So, 24 years – wonderful. He may not live for 24 years, but I hope he lives for quite a long time.”
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Brother says Lynette should be known by her maiden name
By Michaela Whitbourn
Lynette’s brother Greg Simms, his wife Merilyn and their daughter Renee have appeared outside court after Chris Dawson was sentenced to a maximum of 24 years behind bars for Lynette’s murder.
Greg Simms said his sister should be known by her maiden name.
“Chris Dawson discarded her; the Dawsons disregarded her; from today on, we would like her to be known and remembered as Lynette Joy Simms,” he said.
Greg Simms, the brother of Lynette Dawson, with his wife Merilyn Simms and daughter Renee Simms (left) arrive at the Supreme Court on Friday.Credit: Kate Geraghty
“No sentence is long enough for taking someone’s life. We respect and thank Judge Harrison for his sentence and hope Chris Dawson lives a long life in order to serve that sentence.”
Asked whether he believed Dawson would ever reveal the location of Lynette’s body, he said: “I don’t think he’ll ever give it up. His non-parole-period is 18 years.
“He’ll be, what, 92, if he lives that long? I don’t think he’ll give up where she is.”
Greg Simms, brother of Lynette Dawson, and his wife, Merilyn, address the media after Chris Dawson was sentenced on Friday.Credit: Kate Geraghty
Greg and his wife are wearing pink ribbons in honour of Lynette, and Renee has a bright pink dress.
In further comments outside court, Greg Simms said:
Today is in recognition of the hard work so many people have done to get the resolution we needed.
We want to pay special tribute to the family and friends who worked in an unofficial capacity over the last almost 41 years.
The system was against us, but we got there in the end. Once again, a huge but inadequate thank you to all the contributing police, Judge Harrison, the incredible barristers and solicitors from the DPP, the media for their support.
My hope is that the media and police will work collaboratively in future cases. We really didn’t believe this day would ever come.
What we need now is to find Lyn and put her to rest. It’s our time to begin living our lives without having this hanging over our heads. Chris Dawson has had 40 years of freedom. Now, it’s our turn. Thank you.
