Chris Dawson appeal: Witness claimed Lyn framed Chris Dawson

Chris Dawson's barrister argued a man who claimed he drank with Lyn Dawson in the Warners Bay Hotel after her disappearance could possibly have been telling the truth. 

Chris Dawson and wife Lynette pictured in 1974.

Hello and welcome to live coverage of Chris Dawson's appeal against his murder conviction, for the killing of wife Lyn in 1982.

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4:23 pm May 13, 2024 Highlight

Court adjourned on first day of appeal

Ellie Dudley

Court has adjourned after the first day of Chris Dawson's appeal against his conviction for the murder of his wife, Lyn Simms.

The NSW Supreme Court of Appeal on Monday heard arguments from Dawson's lawyer, Belinda Rigg SC, who claims Dawson experienced "serious forensic disadvantage" as a result of the four-decade delay in criminal proceedings.

Ms Rigg claimed Dawson was disadvantaged because better evidence could have been adduced in his favour had key witnesses been questioned at the time of the murder.

Ms Rigg also put forth an argument that Lyn, who was a loving mother who adored her children, could have voluntarily left her family because she trusted Dawson's "capacity as a father".

She also claimed evidence presented during Dawson's criminal trial is "not sufficient" to satisfy his conviction for the murder of his wife.

The court will reconvene tomorrow.

4:00 pm May 13, 2024 Highlight

Witness claimed Lyn framed Dawson

Claire Harvey

Belinda Rigg SC argued a man who claimed he drank with Lyn Dawson in the Warners Bay Hotel after her disappearance could possibly have been telling the truth.

Justice Ian Harrison dismissed Mr Cooper as “completely unreliable” at the murder trial.

Mr Cooper said at some point in 1982 he saw Lyn Simms sitting alone at a table in the hotel, which is in Newcastle.

In 2018, he saw a story about Lyn on A Current Affair and came forward to Chris Dawson’s lawyers.

At trial he gave evidence that the woman told him she had left her husband and two children because of the husband’s infidelity.

Mr Cooper told the court he believed the woman was seeking to “set up” her husband for murder.

In an earlier email to Dawson’s lawyers, Mr Cooper had written: “I was looking to pick up the lady and started drinking with her at a small table.

“After a few drinks and later in the night she told me she had left her husband and what she told me made it plain to see she was setting him up.

“I told her what I thought etc. The fact she was also leaving her kids was nothing compared to the hate she had for her husband.”

Justice Harrison said, unlike other people who claimed to have seen Lyn, Mr Cooper had never met her.

In his judgment, Justice Harrison wrote: “Mr Cooper is asserting that a woman he had never met before, whose physical features he had no reason at that time in 1982 to remember, is the same woman by chance he later sees on a television program about a missing person. Mr Cooper’s evidence is completely unreliable for this reason alone.”

In the appeal hearing on Monday, public defender Belinda Rigg SC said although she accepted some elements of Mr Cooper’s evidence were unlikely to be accurate, it was “reasonably possible” that he was telling the truth.

“It was a memorable event for Mr Cooper and it was so striking to him that he spoke about it to his family and associates about it on the night and he’s never forgotten it,” Ms Rigg said.

She said the fact he was trying to recall events from 40 years ago was not Chris Dawson’s fault – and the delay in charging Dawson had deprived him of the chance to bring Mr Cooper to court earlier, when his memory would have been more fresh.

3:31 pm May 13, 2024

Witnesses testimonies hazy, 'disadvantaged' Dawson

Ellie Dudley

Belinda Rigg SC says the testimonies of key witnesses working at the local pool at which Chris Dawson was a lifeguard at the time Lyn Simms disappeared were hazy due to the period of time between the murder and his criminal trial.

As such, Dawson was deprived of a fair trial because, had the testimonies been provided at the time the murder occured, better evidence could have been adduced, the public defender told the court.

During Dawson's criminal trial, a pool employee, CB, recalled during that summer taking a long-distance call from a woman asking for one of the Dawson brothers at some point in early January.

CB's version of events corroborated claims by Dawson that he received calls from Lyn after she disappeared.

CB said that at the time the call came, pool manager Col Stubbings was on duty.

Judge Ian Harrison eventually found this could not be true, because he accepted evidence in a subsequently discovered diary written by another ­employee, JM, that contradicted this evidence.

But Ms Rigg has argued that CB's recollection of events points to "serious forensic disadvantage" experienced by Dawson during his criminal trial due of the forty year period between the murder and his trial.

"CB has a recollection that she was the one who was working there, who does have a recollection of taking a long distance call … that was for one of the Dawson brothers. We know it wasn't for Paul Dawson," Ms Rigg said.

"The disadvantage is that we don't have records and she doesn't have a recollection assisting with the dates of her work. It's therefore not able to support … (Dawson's) account of a call on the 10th."

She continued: "If it had been established that she was working on that particular date on the 10th and that, in combination with her positive recollection of taking a call from a woman for Mr Dawson, would offer more highly positive support for his account of those two calls to the bath from his wife than he was able to have adduced in his trial, and that was squarely a result of the delay."

2:56 pm May 13, 2024 Highlight

Judge ‘wrongly dismissed’ alleged sighting of Lyn

Claire Harvey

Ray Butlin outside court in 2022. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

Belinda Rigg is arguing Chris Dawson suffered a “significant forensic disadvantage” because his defence team were unable to call evidence from Sue Butlin, a family friend who said she saw Lyn Simms at a roadside fruit barn after her disappearance.

Ms Butlin’s ex-husband Ray Butlin was a friend of Dawson from rugby league circles.

Ms Butlin died before the murder trial in 2022.

Ray Butlin gave evidence at the trial about what Ms Butlin had told him, saying: “The substance was that she saw a person that she believed was Lyn (Simms).”

Mr Butlin said his ex-wife “called her name. She walked towards her and the woman proceeded without turning around and got into a car and drove off.”

In his judgment, Ian Harrison said this was a “fleeting” encounter and dismissed it, along with all the other alleged sightings of Lyn after January 9, 1982.

Justice Harrison said: “It is a matter of no controversy in these proceedings that Lynette Dawson did not drive.

“Ms Butlin’s alleged sighting, fleeting at best, would place Lynette (Simms) at the Kulnurra fruit barn getting into a car and driving off.

“Mr Dawson has submitted that that expression is capable of accommodating the concept that she got into a car and was driven off.

“It follows that the woman seen by Ms Butlin is highly unlikely to have been Lynette Dawson if she drove away by herself.”

In the appeal court on Monday, Ms Rigg said Ms Butlin’s account of her sighting was “quite extraordinary” as she knew Lyn well.

“That’s a very clear example of a deceased person whose evidence was crucial,” Ms Rigg said.

Ms Rigg said it was important for Ms Butlin to give evidence in court and have her account cross-examined for the judge to assess it properly.

“That very type of detail … has been lost because of the delay.

“All we have is an impoverished hearsay account (from) her former husband,” Ms Rigg said.

2:53 pm May 13, 2024

Loss of police records 'unfair to Dawson'

Ellie Dudley

Belinda Rigg SC says the "large scale loss of police records" points to a disadvantage experienced by Chris Dawson in his criminal murder trial.

Dawson's public defender told the court there were "no investigators with any memory of the missing person unit investigation who was still alive" at the time Dawson was convicted for the murder of his wife, Lyn Simms.

"There was some records, but there's no knowledge as to how complete they are," she said.

Ms Rigg is attempting to prove Dawson experienced "forensic disadvantage" during his criminal trial because of the forty year period between the murder and his trial.

She said there was a "considerable body of investigation" conducted by police after the murder that was not able to be accessed at trial due to the passage of time.

"There were boxes of records stacked four or five high according to the evidence which because they became flooded or waterlogged were simply destroyed," she said.

"A very thorough investigation undertaken over years by police, which resulted in a decision to not charge (Dawson), has been lost to him."

2:51 pm May 13, 2024

What did Dawson say to JC?

Claire Harvey

Belinda Rigg SC has asked the judge to look at alleged inconsistencies in the account of JC, the teenage babysitter who became Chris Dawson’s second wife.

Dawson’s public defender is arguing that the trial judge, Ian Harrison, was correct to accept most of JC’s evidence – but that the judge should not have accepted her account of what Dawson said about Lyn’s disappearance.

In an interview with detective Damian Loone in 1990, JC said Dawson had said to her words to the effect “Lyn’s gone, come back and stay with me.”

Ms Rigg said in 2012, JC allegedly told her friend, author Rebecca Hazel, that she believed Dawson’s claim that Lyn had called him to say she was taking some time away.

But at trial in 2022, JC added another element to her account of what Dawson said.

In her evidence at trial, JC said: “He came up to get me, to install me into his place to look after his children and take care of all the cooking and cleaning, etc, because he told me his wife was not coming back.”

Ms Rigg is seeking to establish that JC’s story changed about these matters and that her original account – that Dawson simply said: “Lyn’s gone” – should be accepted.

Ms Rigg said that at the murder trial, “JC gave evidence that she would often ask the applicant (Dawson): ‘When is Lynn coming back?’”

Ms Rigg said that indicated Dawson could not have said: "She's not coming back".

But Justice Christine Adamson said JC's questions were understandable, as it hadn’t occurred to JC at that time that Lyn had been murdered.

“Her evidence was (that) she asked that question when she was absolutely at the end of her tether, because she was 18 years old and she's looking after a four-year-old and a two year old 24/7 and living with the applicant.

“So the only reprieve from her point of view is if the mother of these two children comes back.

Justice Adamson said it was “not in JC’s contemplation at the time” that Lyn had been killed.

Justice Adamson said it wasn’t “It wasn’t until later when (JC) was in Queensland, I think, that it occurred to her as a possibility.”

12:51 pm May 13, 2024 Highlight

Did JC make mystery call?

Claire Harvey

One of Chris Dawson’s grounds of appeal is that it was unfair for Justice Harrison to disbelieve his claim that on 9 January 1982, he received a long-distance STD call from Lyn while he was working at Northbridge Baths.

Dawson told police that during the call, Lyn said she needed some time away.

Dawson’s appeal includes an argument that Dawson was at “significant forensic disadvantage” because of the delay in bringing charges, because the phone records and other evidence were no longer available – and therefore he was unable to prove that he was telling the truth.

Justice Christine Adamson asked if it were possible the phone call did happen, but came from the teenage babysitter JC, who was then at South West Rocks with her friends.

Justice Adamson said: “In that situation where we don’t have the phone records and there’s no way of knowing whether the phone records are going to be completely neutral or exculpatory, or inculpatory, how do we weigh whether the trial judge should have been satisfied as to (Dawson’s claim he was the victim of a) significant forensic disadvantage?”

Public defender Belinda Rigg, acting for Dawson, said the delay in charging Dawson until 2018 meant that he had lost the chance for the phone records to be examined.

Justice Adamson said: “Right, and the Crown has lost the capacity to show that it came from someone else like, for example, JC or some member of the family.

“So in terms of forensic disadvantage, both parties have potentially suffered forensic disadvantage … is that not right?”

Ms Rigg said it was not – that the NSW Evidence Act’s provision about ‘forensic disadvantage’ only related to the rights of the accused.

“Although our system is an adversarial and accusatorial system and there is fairness required to both parties, this provision and its common law origin is exclusively concerned in the fairness of the trial to the accused.”

12:28 pm May 13, 2024

Murder trial 'radical departure' from common law

Ellie Dudley

Chris Dawson was denied a fair trial because of the four-decade delay between the murder of Lyn Simms and his trial, the court has heard.

Dawson's lawyer, Belinda Rigg SC, said the "absence of evidence" caused by the 40 years between the murder and the trial, indicated a "radical departure from common law requirements of ensuring a fair trial for an accused person in the circumstances of delay".

"It’s about the absence of evidence and the risk to an accused person’s fair trial as to what the evidence may have been," she said.

Ms Rigg said the delay caused Dawson a "forensic disadvantage".

NSW Supreme Court of Appeal judge Christine Adamson said the onus was on Ms Rigg to prove that there was "factual or real, not merely speculative" evidence that was missed due to the delay of proceedings.

"It can’t just be this person’s died and we don't have their evidence," Justice Adamson said, requesting Ms Rigg "focus on where there was actual or real disadvantage" for Dawson due to the absence of evidence.

12:08 pm May 13, 2024

Family history ‘explains’ Dawson’s belief Lyn left voluntarily

Claire Harvey

Chris Dawson didn’t actively search for Lyn after she went missing because there was a family history of a woman “abandoning” her home and children, the Court of Criminal Appeal has heard.

It was in the case of his brother Peter Dawson’s ex-wife, Lynelle, whose own mother Marcia Botham had left her family when Lynelle was a child.

Belinda Rigg, public defender for Dawson, said her submission was that “this situation, having so starkly occurred in the Dawson family and well known to them, may well have contributed, amongst other things, to (Chris Dawson) not doing everything within his power to find his wife.”

During the murder trial Peter Dawson gave evidence that given their family history, he didn't’ think it was unusual that Lyn Simms might have left Chris.”

Ms Rigg said that family history could have “normalised” the idea for Chris Dawson that some women abandoned their children and homes.

Justice Christine Adamson said that wasn’t plausible, given Lyn’s struggles to have children.

“So in those circumstances where somebody who’s really desperate to be a mother, only becomes a mother seven years after she’s been married, absolutely adores the children – it’s difficult to see how the applicant’s former sister-in-law’s mother can have a bearing on that normalisation, given the focus of Ms Dawson on getting pregnant and her joy at having the children.”

Ms Rigg said of Dawson: “His conduct, on his own account of what happened, is uncaring and perhaps callous in terms of just continuing things with JC in the house and not making a greater effort than he did to find his wife.

“But … it is of some importance that there was this big feature in their family of a woman who had left and set up her own life – because he might not necessarily presume something bad had happened to his wife, he might think it more plausible than another person might that his wife had simply decided to move on and set up a new life for herself.”

11:59 am May 13, 2024

'Not inconceivable' that Lyn would walk out on children

Ellie Dudley

Lyn Simms walked out on her family because she was confident in Chris Dawson's "ability to take care" of her two children, the court has heard.

Dawson's lawyer, Belinda Rigg SC, said it was "not inconceivable" that Lyn, who was a loving mother who adored her children, would leave her family because she trusted Dawson's "capacity as a father".

"His version, that he’s given, is that she called him and said she needed some days to herself to think things through. A week, what he should tell her employer," Ms Rigg told the court.

"This particular woman would easily have contemplated as well within (Dawson's capacities to look after, admirably, their two children."