Justice 40 years on for a gentle mother betrayed

The sentencing of Chris Dawson, 74, to 24 years’ jail with a non-parole period of 18 years for murdering his wife, Lynette, 40 years ago, is the end of decades of anxiety and uncertainty for Lyn’s family, including her two daughters who last saw their mother when they were four and two. As Justice Ian Harrison SC declared in pronouncing sentence on Friday: “A just and appropriate sentence must accord due recognition to the human dignity of the victim of domestic violence and the legitimate interest of the general community in the denunciation and punishment of someone who kills his spouse. Even though such expectations must be tempered by the need to extend mercy where appropriate, I recognise that the unavoidable prospect is that Mr Dawson will probably die in jail.” If still alive at the age of 92, he would then face “no body, no parole” laws, introduced in NSW as a result of his conviction. His freedom would be blocked unless he assisted in recovering Lyn’s remains. Justice Harrison, correctly, rejected Mr Dawson’s plea for a reduced sentence due to publicity associated with The Teacher’s Pet podcast by this newspaper. Dawson was “the author of his own misfortune”, the judge recognised.

Far from being a reason for leniency towards Dawson, the podcast was the catalyst for justice finally being done. Through The Teacher’s Pet, national chief correspondent Hedley Thomas persisted and prevailed where NSW police, the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions, two coronial inquests and the justice system failed for decades. The reasons for those failures have never been properly examined or individuals held to account, to ensure they are not repeated. It was Thomas’s forensic, footslogging reporting, more than any political pressure, that forced the justice system to do its job, finally.

Thomas recognised something was wrong from the time he first covered Lyn’s story in 2001. The injustice to the memory of the former nurse, who would never have left her beloved daughters voluntarily, was plain. Coming back to the case years later, after storing his files, Thomas realised that telling the whole, tragic story in the form of a long-form podcast might help. After first being posted on The Australian’s website in May 2018, The Teacher’s Pet unfolded across 17 episodes. It has been downloaded more than 70 million times worldwide. One of the most distressing aspects of the story was Dawson’s obsession with JC, one of his phys ed students at Cromer High School on Sydney’s northern beaches, whom he later married. Several male teachers at the school in that era apparently preyed on young girls.

Under the law, Justice Harrison was required to punish Dawson in line with the sentencing practices of four decades ago, when murder typically attracted a lesser sentence than if the same crime was committed today. Dawson, dressed in a prison-issued tracksuit, remained impassive throughout the sentencing.

Dawson’s motivation in murdering Lyn exposed some of the worst of human nature. His action was inspired, Justice Harrison said, “by an uncontrollable desire” to be with his teenage former student, JC. “It was neither spontaneous nor unavoidable,” the judge said. “It is not acceptable to take someone’s life mainly because they represent an inconvenient impediment.”

Friday’s sentencing should help bring a sense of closure for Lyn’s friends and family. Her family, understandably, now want her to be known by her maiden name, Lynette Joy Simms. The sadness will always remain, however. As her friend and neighbour Julie Andrew told Thomas: “I have always maintained through everything I said about Lyn that she would never leave her children. I’m seeing my children, my grandchildren. We’ve all had our lives. Lyn hasn’t. Lyn has been 40 years dead.’’