Former detective Gary Jubelin sentenced over Tyrrell calls
Two days after being found guilty of illegally recording phone calls during the William Tyrrell investigation, the case’s former top cop has been sentenced. Gary Jubelin faced court today with a cohort of high profile people supporting him.
NSW
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Former detective Gary Jubelin has been fined $10,000 and convicted for illegally recording conversations with a person of interest in the William Tyrrell investigation.
The 57-year-old was convicted on four counts of breaching the Surveillance Devices Act and fined $2500 for each offence.
Magistrate Ross Hudson said this afternoon that the offending struck “across the heart, nature, extent and purpose” of the act.
Several high-profile people, including former NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldas, Crown Prosecutor turn defence barrister Mark Tedeschi QC and Greens MP David Shoebridge, turned up the Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday to provide references supporting Jubelin.
The seasoned investigator was on Monday found guilty of using a phone to record conversations with pensioner Paul Savage without his knowledge in 2017 and 2018.
Savage, 74, lived across the road from where William vanished while playing in his foster grandmother’s backyard in Kendall, a small town on the Mid North Coast, in September, 2014.
He became the target of an intense police operation to determine if he knew about or was involved in what happened to William.
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Savage had denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged in connection to William disappearance.
Jubelin, who served in the police force for 34 years, was removed from the strike force investigating William’s disappearance six months before he was charged with breaching the Surveillance Devices Act last year.
He resigned from the force last July.
During a sentencing hearing today, a line of prominent lawyers, former police bosses and victims’ families turned out to give evidence in support of Jubelin’s character.
Former Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldas, who was Jubelin’s boss at the Homicide Squad in the early 2000s, said he had “no doubt about his integrity”.
“I found him to be a very committed tenacious investigator who has always had the interest of the murder victims and their families at heart,” he said.
“I found him to be a very loyal colleague who stuck by his friends.”
William’s foster mother held back tears as she described the bond Jubelin had forged with her family.
“He got to know us and got to know William,” she told the court.
“He got to know William's sister. He is connected to us and connected to William. There is a real distinct difference to what is happening now to when Gary was there.”
She said former Premier Mike Baird and Police Minister Troy Grant were among the MPS who told her Jubelin was “the best cop in NSW, the bloke who is going to help you”.
Greens MP David Shoebridge, who has not shied away from criticising police previously when it came to protecting civil rights, also gave evidence.
He said despite the charges, Jubelin was a “fundamentally honest and decent man”.
“He would have been quite a tough, uncompromising boss,” Mr Shoebridge said.
“I think he expects of his team what he expects of himself. For me that is a pretty good sign for a leader.”
Jubelin and Mr Shoebridge met through the families of three children who were murdered in Bowraville on the Mid North Coast.
Jubelin had fought the charges during a hearing earlier this year and argued he recorded his conversations with Savage to protect his lawful interest.
That included in case Savage made a complaint against him, committed self-harm and because the suite of listening devices inside his home were flawed.
The first recording was made in November 2017 when Jubelin asked a junior detective to record his phone call with Savage.
On two occasions in May, 2018, Jubelin visited Savage and recorded the interactions on his iPhone.
Then in December, 2018, Jubelin visited Savage’s Benaroon Drive home again and recorded their conversation.
While Jubelin claimed he only made the recordings to protect himself, Magistrate Ross Hudson found the seasoned investigator’s evidence at times “evasive, unbelievable and untenable”.
In her submissions, defence barrister Margaret Cunneen SC said Jubelin was a man of impeccable character who “of course was unlikely to offend”.
“A man whose service to this state in the most difficult of rolls in public service has been exemplary,” she said.
Ms Cunneen argued the harm, loss and damage in this case was not substantial because police were already intercepting Savage’s phone calls and had placed listening devices in his home.
“Mr Savage suffered little or any additional loss to his privacy in these circumstances,” she said.
Jubelin was going through a difficult period in his person life when the offences were committed, Ms Cunneen said.
“That may be some explanation as to why he cut corners, one might say, to the extent of criminality with these four offences,” she said.
Any future employment in security or investigations would be burdened by Jubelin having a criminal record and Ms Cunneen asked the magistrate not to impose a conviction.
Originally published as Former detective Gary Jubelin sentenced over Tyrrell calls
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