Why Chris Dawson says he’s not guilty of unlawful sexual relationship

Chris Dawson will appear before the state’s highest court next year in a bid to have his conviction for engaging in an unlawful sexual relationship with a teenage student overturned on appeal.

Wife murderer Chris Dawson has launched an appeal against his conviction for having an unlawful sexual relationship with a then teenage student, with the former Newtown Jets star arguing the verdict was “unreasonable”.

Dawson was not present in court on Thursday as his lawyers took their first step in attempting to have his conviction overturned on appeal.

Last year the former teacher was convicted of one count of carnal knowledge after a judge found he engaged in sexual activities with one of his 16-year-old students at a Sydney high school in 1980.

Following a judge, alone trial, District Court Judge Sarah Huggett found Dawson guilty of engaging in sexual acts with a then teenage student, who can only be known as AB, when she was in his year 11 PE class.

Chris Dawson is appealing against his conviction for having an unlawful sexual relationship with a teenage student. Picture: NewsWire/Damian Shaw.

He had pleaded not guilty and argued that their first sexual contact did not occur until the following year – when she was in year 12.

However, Judge Huggett accepted AB’s testimony that she was “groomed” by Dawson in the playground before they first engaged in sexual activity in his parents’ Maroubra home in the latter half of 1980.

He was sentenced to three years in jail and had one year added onto his earliest possible release, which has been set at August 2041 when he will be 93.

The Court of Criminal Appeal heard on Thursday that Dawson was appealing against his conviction, but not against his sentence.

“This is a conviction appeal but the sentence is really no issue,” Dawson’s Legal Aid solicitor Julian Stevens told the court.

The matter will return to court in early March, with a two-hour appeal hearing to be heard by a panel of three judges on March 31.

Chris Dawson will appear before the Court of Criminal Appeal in March. Picture: NCA NewsWire

In a grounds of appeal notice lodged with the court, Dawson’s lawyers have highlighted four grounds on which they are challenging his conviction, including that the guilty verdict was “unreasonable”.

They say that Judge Huggett failed to take into account evidence of the date that he had sex with AB.

They claim Judge Huggett erred in applying the burden and standard of proof.

As well, they argue that she incorrectly relied on questions asked by Dawson’s defence, during the cross examination of witnesses, as indications of the “defence case”.

The court was told that Dawson had requested to view the appeal proceedings via AVL link from jail.

Dawson is already serving a lengthy prison sentence after being jailed for the murder of his wife Lynette Simms.

After being convicted of killing his wife, Dawson was sentenced a maximum of 24 years in jail, with a non-parole period of 18 years.

The Court of Criminal Appeal earlier this year dismissed his appeal against his murder conviction.