Cop’s appeal hits a snag at busy Coffs Harbour courthouse

The Coffs Harbour police officer was found guilty of six charges of unlawfully distributing intimate images of a woman without her consent.

A date is yet to be determined for the appeal and the matter will again be dealt with on July 14 when parties will attempt to lock in a date.. Photo Leigh Jensen.

The date for a Coffs Harbour police officer’s appeal is yet to be set.

In January, Glenn Paul Matthews was found guilty of six charges of unlawfully distributing intimate images of a woman without her consent.

In March he was sentenced, receiving fines of just under $6,000 for the six charges and the victim, who cannot be named, was bitterly disappointed with this outcome.

“I wanted to cry. I wouldn’t wish this upon anyone.”

He has since lodged an appeal and in May the matter came before court in Coffs Harbour where it was determined the appeal would take at least two days.

Inside the Coffs Harbour Court House. Photo Leigh Jensen.

A date is yet to be determined for the appeal and the matter will again be dealt with on July 14 when parties will attempt to lock in a date.

Coffs Harbour Local Court has recently been grappling with a hefty backlog of cases, with new hearings unable to be listed until at least November.

In some cases the long waiting times for hearings has been argued by solicitors as a grounds to grant alleged offenders to walk free on bail.

President of the Law Society of NSW, Juliana Warner, visited the Coffs Coast earlier this year to discuss the issue with local solicitors. She said the Local Court was the busiest jurisdiction in both the state and the Commonwealth – dealing with 96 per cent of all criminal prosecutions.

However, she said it was critically under-resourced and at least 10 new magistrates were needed including an additional one at Coffs Harbour.