Chris Dawson declines to give evidence in schoolgirl sex trial

Already serving 24 years for murdering his wife, Chris Dawson faces weeks of suspense as lawyers prepare closing submissions.

Former teacher and professional footballer Chris Dawson has ­declined to give evidence or call witnesses in his trial for unlawful carnal knowledge of a 16-year-old pupil whom he went on to marry.

The convicted killer – who, after The Australian’s investigative podcast The Teacher’s Pet, was charged and found guilty of murdering his wife Lynette – is serving 24 years in prison, with no chance of parole if he fails to reveal what he did with Lyn’s body. He also declined to give evidence at his murder trial, meaning he could not be cross-examined.

For the past fortnight he has stood trial in the NSW District Court for unlawful sex with a pupil, AB, who was in his “sports coaching” class in 1980 at Cromer High on Sydney’s northern beaches.

Dawson’s defence is that he did not commence sexual relations with the complainant until 1981, when she was 17 and no longer in his class. The pair married after he murdered Lyn, moved to Queensland and had a baby together.

AB later left Dawson, returned to Sydney and over subsequent years gave statements to the NSW Department of Education and police about Dawson’s alleged grooming and abuse of her.

During this trial, another woman who was in Year 9 in 1980 has alleged she was groomed by Paul Dawson, the twin brother of Chris, who was a teacher at Forest High, also on the northern beaches.

Detective Sergeant Laura Beacroft. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

Prosecutor Emma Blizard and public defender Claire Wasley will make closing submissions on Tuesday.

NSW District Court judge Sarah Huggett will retire to consider her verdict after the submissions, and will return with a verdict at a date yet to be set.

Detective Sergeant Laura Beacroft, of Strike Force Southwood, was the final crown witness on Thursday. The strike force was created in 2018 to investigate allegations of unlawful sexual ­activity by teachers on Sydney’s northern beaches between 1978 and 1985, as a result of revelations in The Teacher’s Pet.

Under cross-examination by Ms Wasley, Sergeant Beacroft agreed AB had raised two new ­details of Dawson’s alleged ­offending during her evidence at this trial.

AB alleged Dawson had first interacted with her in 1979, when she was in Year 10, after finding a photograph of her topless that was circulating in the school playground. Sergeant Beacroft agreed AB had not raised that claim in ­interviews with her, or in other formal statements or evidence prior to this trial.

Chris Dawson and AB, now his accuser, on their wedding day.

She also agreed with Ms Wasley’s suggestion AB had not previously raised an allegation that in 1980 she witnessed Dawson and another sports teacher “jostling” over who would get to teach AB and her “cool group” of friends at the beginning of Year 11.

Ms Wasley asked Sergeant Beacroft about information in The Teacher’s Pet podcast, first published in 2018, where the timeline of AB’s allegations were outlined, including that she and Dawson first had sex at his parents’ home in Maroubra, in Sydney’s southeast, in late 1980 while she was in Year 11.

Sergeant Beacroft agreed this information was in the podcast.

The defence is attempting to establish this information – once widely publicised – was capable of tainting the evidence of witnesses in any trial by setting out a timeline that might influence their perceived memories. But Ms Blizard, for the crown, told the court the podcast was in fact withdrawn by The Australian in April 2019.

She said the podcast had been revised before being re-released after the murder trial, with references to timing or details of when the sex began removed.

Ms Blizard read aloud an affidavit from lawyers acting for The Australian and other media outlets, which said: “(O)ther edits were made to the original podcast to remove references to the precise time period in which the ­accused and (AB) first had sexual or intimate interactions in 1980 and also removed allegations the accused had a habit of preying on schoolgirls.”

The matter will return to court on Tuesday for closing submissions.

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Our latest podcast is The Teacher’s Accuser. Hear it wherever you get your podcasts, along with our daily news podcast The Front for your essential updates. Read all our coverage of the carnal knowledge trial at theteachersaccuser.com.au