Teacher's Pet journalist could be called to give evidence at Dawson hearing
Journalist Hedley Thomas, who presented a podcast examining the disappearance of Sydney woman Lynette Dawson, could be called to give evidence in preliminary court proceedings after the missing woman's then-husband was charged with her murder.
Chris Dawson, 70, was arrested last year and charged with murdering his wife, who was last seen in January 1982, aged 33. Her body has not been found.
On Thursday, when the matter was mentioned at Downing Centre Local Court, Mr Dawson's lawyer Greg Walsh said the prosecution had recently been served with a "large amount" of material, primarily from Mr Thomas, who presented The Teacher's Pet podcast with The Australian newspaper.
Mr Walsh said it was "apparent" that some material had not been disclosed, and pointed to a comment made by Mr Thomas at an event in Brisbane in 2017, in which he responded to a question from the audience by saying some podcast material "needs to be shredded, you'll go to jail if it airs".
"This material is vitally important," Mr Walsh said. "He is the person who has interviewed virtually every witness in the case."
Chief Magistrate Graeme Henson said Mr Walsh had "opened by saying the material has been shredded" and asked if there was more.
Mr Walsh said he did not know if there were master tapes that could still be accessed.
Senior Crown prosecutor Craig Everson said the prosecution was working to get material from Mr Thomas by liaising with his lawyers in Melbourne. He said he would seek the court's time for Mr Thomas to give evidence, including being cross-examined.
Speaking outside court, Mr Walsh confirmed he would apply for the journalist to give evidence at a committal hearing.
"We've got to get to the bottom of this, because Chris Dawson's entitlement to a fair trial, in my respectful opinion, has been seriously prejudiced," Mr Walsh said.
"This is about a man facing the most serious of charges, murder, in very, very unusual circumstances.
"We have to get to the bottom of what material has been destroyed or not."
If Mr Thomas does give evidence, it is expected to be towards the end of the year.
Mr Dawson's bail conditions were varied on Thursday so he does not have to report to police for 24 hours before and after attending court.
Under his bail conditions, he must report to police at Maroochydore once a day, not go further than 25 kilometres from his home except to attend court, surrender his passport, and not make contact in any way with any person who has provided a statement to police in the case.
The matter will return to court on June 20.