Former federal MP Craig Thomson has been spared a jail term, but fined $25,000 for using union money on "self-indulgent" spending on prostitutes and fine dining.
The former Labor member for the NSW seat of Dobell was this week found guilty of 13 counts of theft, related to the withdrawals of $5650 from ATMs while using HSU credit cards, money he was not authorised to use on himself.
He was found not guilty of 49 fraud charges because Judge Douglas found the prosecution had worded the charges incorrectly.
Thomson was, in March, sentenced to three months in jail, with a further nine months suspended, after a magistrate found him guilty of the 65 theft and fraud charges. But he did not serve any jail term because his lawyers launched an immediate appeal.
A court case lasting years costing the taxpayer millions of dollars and all he gets is a $25.000 fine and an order to pay $5620 back to the HSU.
Got out of jail time because "the prosecution had worded the charges incorrectly." I wonder what happened there? 
Yes fabulous news - Merry Xmas Craig
Some say Santa came early for Craig Thomson this year, however the truth is there is no political mileage to be gained by continuing to pursue him.
Yesterday Craig Thomson got off 49 charges on a technicality.
That technicality is that he was not guilty.
Years later and thousands of police hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars, perhaps millions, in taxpayer expense and the result is a firm Not Guilty for 95% of the charges.
The Coalition that promised to “end the waste” were happy to waste the resources of the courts and police forces in two states for years to end up finding less than $4,000 worth of spending that they could charge Thomson for, and even those charges are highly questionable, and perhaps still subject to appeal.
So while the lawyers all got to loosen their belts and make out like bandits, it will be the taxpayers footing the bill for this witch hunt, and more than likely their grandkids.
Many will remember Tony Abbott’s childish carry on about the “tainted vote” of Craig Thomson. The ridiculous carry on that saw Abbott and Christopher Pyne fleeing parliament like schoolgirls running from a mouse.
Well it turns out that Thomson’s vote never was tainted, in fact after his days in court Thomson is now even clear to have another run at parliament should he choose to do so. Although I doubt he would.
As for the trial by media, the mainstream by and large have shown themselves to be little more than a hangman jury. Even now as they lick their wounds in defeat the media still talk about prostitutes on the basis that Thomson may have spent cash on prostitution. Of course this is despite their being absolutely no evidence whatsoever of what he spent cash on, as the judge said he could have spent it at Bunnings for all we know.
Thomson was fined $25K for the misuse of union funds related to cash withdrawals from his union credit card, these amounted to around $3,500.
However it needs to be remembered when this much effort has been put into destroying someone’s life by a government and a police force or two there is always going to be enormous pressure for Thomson to be found guilty of something.
As for the 13 charges Thomson was found guilty of, it is interesting to note that these charges were amended by the Judge after the hearing. This means that Thomson and his legal team were completely unable to mount a defence against these charges.
Knowing what these charges were to be would more than likely have changed the entire strategy of their defence. After all it is hard to defend yourself against the unknown. The ammending of charges after a hearing is highly unusual and it is perhaps only the amendment to those charges that allowed Judge Douglas to find Thomson guilty of anything at all.
Many have questioned why the Judge has seemingly verbally condemned Thomson with talk about prostitutes and self-indulgent behaviour.
Many have criticised the Judge for saying these things as it appears to fly in the face of her findings and some have seen it as an unfair shot at a man who has been found not guilty of 211 charges. The Judges words have fueled speculation that the Judge may have thought Thomson guilty despite being legally bound to find him not guilty due to the way the charges were worded.
In fact, I suspect that what Judge Douglas may have been doing is something called denunciation. While this may seem like she is having a shot at Thomson, it actually means that by publicly reprimanding him the police are unable to appeal against Thomson’s sentence in order to increase it.
The denunciation also gives the media a way of saving a bit of face, kind of a win win scenario.
Meanwhile Kathy Jackson should be looking on with concern, after all the cash she testified under oath to withdrawing is measured not in the thousands but in the hundreds of thousands.
Speaking of Jackson it must please the Federal Court and the members no end to see her out on the town in Sydney on Monday enjoying herself.
Jackson out on the town, hope she gets used to men in uniforms…
The photos above were posted on her friend Michael Smiths blog site one wonders for what reason. To rub the Federal Court judges face in it? To make Victorian Police look foolish? Or just a “screw you” to the members?
Whatever Smith and Jackson’s reason her day of reckoning is yet to come.
For years I have been told that I am a fool for thinking Thomson would not go to jail and Kathy Jackson eventually would, In fact I have been swimming against the media tide for so long I’ve grown accustomed to it.
But guess what?
The tide is turning…
http://wixxyleaks.com/free-to-run-no-jail-for-craig-thomson/
Craig stole and spent union money and that is a FACT. He spent it of hookers and other pleasures in his sad life
He stole MONEY from the lowest paid workers yet the lefties here all seem to think thats OK and Craig shouldnt have been charged and should have gotten away with it.
Why are the left supporting a THIEF... A THIEF that stole union money?
