Tones and I and husband Jason ‘Jimmy’ Bedford plead guilty over building charges
Dance Monkey singer Toni Watson and her new husband have learnt their fate in court over an illegal house reno in Frankston.
South East
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Pop star Tones and I has dodged charges relating to an illegal reno as her husband and a company she owns faced court.
Frankston Council has dropped all charges against Toni Elizabeth Watson relating to work carried out without a building permit on a Frankston property in 2020.
However, Jason “Jimmy” Bedford, who married Ms Watson in March, pleaded guilty to carrying out work on the Foot Street house without a permit.
He was fined $5000 and no conviction was recorded.
Johnny Run Away, the company that owns the Foot St house, pleaded guilty to three charges, including illegal building works and failing to comply with a stop work notice.
The company, of which Ms Watson is the sole director, was fined $20,000.
No conviction was recorded.
Ms Watson did not attend the hearing in person, but was available via phone if required.
She was not questioned during the hearing.
The court heard Mr Bedford had permission from his famous wife to work on the property and was not aware building permits were required.
Defence lawyer Sam Bird said his client was a “young man, just beginning his family life” who had not been involved in renovating an investment property before.
However, Frankston Council prosecutor Bruce Gardiner argued that it “beggared belief” that Mr Bedford, 31, was not aware of his responsibilities.
“He owned a bricklaying company for 10 years,” Mr Gardiner said.
He said the offences were aggravated by the fact that the works continued after the council ordered them to stop for safety reasons.
“They continued to work and they put a tenant inside the house for a period of 12 months and that grossly aggravates the offending,’ Mr Gardiner said.
Mr Bird told the court the illegal works were ultimately found to be compliant with council regulations.
However, Mr Gardiner refuted the claim.
He said an initial surveyor’s report had revealed that “existing internal load bearing walls were removed and the existing deck and veranda framing appeared to be structurally inadequate”.
When interviewed by the council after the illegal works were discovered, Bedford said that he had been “busy” and “overseas” working as an audio engineer while the bulk of the work was carried out by subcontractors.
The subcontractors were paid in cash and while Bedford told the council he could “find a mobile number’ for the workers he had not yet provided contact details.
Mr Bird asked that Bedford be spared a conviction because it could impact his ability to work overseas and bid for festival tenders.
Mr Gardiner was open to the request but asked the court to consider a substantial fine for Ms Watson’s company.
The maximum fine the company was exposed to was $225,000 for each of the three charges.
In sentencing Magistrate Charles Tan took into account Bedford’s guilty plea, his lack of prior convictions and references from Frankston football and cricket clubs.
Record show that the property at the centre of the charges was bought in late 2020 for $720,000 by Ms Watson’s company Johnny Run Away.
The property includes a three-bedroom house and one bedroom bungalow.
It was listed as leased for $600 a week in January 2022.
