Criminal Pollies dodging gaol

[Valkie]

Dont lock them away.

Put them down.

Corrupt pollies ‘at risk in jail’
PERRY DUFFIN


A JUDGE has been asked to spare corrupt former politicians Ian Macdonald and Eddie Obeid from jail because of health woes and Covid.

Prosecutor Sophie Callan SC has called for years in prison after the men were each found guilty by Justice Elizabeth Fullerton of conspiring to commit misconduct in public office over a mining lease.

D e f e n c e lawyers have claimed Obeid (inset) and M a c d o n a l d , both aged in their 70s, would be at risk from Covid-19 if locked up.

Macdonald‘s chronic constipation was an issue, as was a vascular condition he suffered from once during the 1990s, the court heard.

The court heard Obeid’s son Moses, also awaiting sentencing over the matters, had suffered a decade of media harassment and had been left depressed by the long-running legal saga. He was suffering headaches from his first dose of AstraZeneca, the court heard.

The sentence hearing continues today.

[Neferti]

Dont lock them away.

Put them down.

Corrupt pollies ‘at risk in jail’
PERRY DUFFIN


A JUDGE has been asked to spare corrupt former politicians Ian Macdonald and Eddie Obeid from jail because of health woes and Covid.

Prosecutor Sophie Callan SC has called for years in prison after the men were each found guilty by Justice Elizabeth Fullerton of conspiring to commit misconduct in public office over a mining lease.

D e f e n c e lawyers have claimed Obeid (inset) and M a c d o n a l d , both aged in their 70s, would be at risk from Covid-19 if locked up.

Macdonald‘s chronic constipation was an issue, as was a vascular condition he suffered from once during the 1990s, the court heard.

The court heard Obeid’s son Moses, also awaiting sentencing over the matters, had suffered a decade of media harassment and had been left depressed by the long-running legal saga. He was suffering headaches from his first dose of AstraZeneca, the court heard.

The sentence hearing continues today.

They aren't fit enough to live!

[Valkie]

‘Two years jail is not enough’
STEVE ZEMEK


Obeid’s crime worse than last time

FORMER NSW Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid’s conspiracy to fix a coal mining licence to make millions was a worse crime than the offence for which he was jailed five years ago, a judge said yesterday.

The final day of sentencing submissions for the disgraced ex-Labor minister, his son Moses and former parliamentary colleague and fellow minister Ian MacDonald heard the crown prosecution push for the trio to be sentenced to full-time jail.

Obeid, Moses and Mac-Donald where earlier this year convicted of conspiring to commit misconduct in public office over the 2009 granting of a coal exploration licence encompassing a large property owned by the Obeids at Mount Penny in the Bylong Valley, NSW.

The project resulted in a $30 million windfall for the Obeids and they were in line to make $30 million more.

Justice Elizabeth Fullerton in the NSW Supreme said a sentence of two years would be “manifestly inadequate” for both of the Obeids.

Justice Fullerton said Eddie Obeid had been sentenced in 2016 to five years in jail with a three-year nonparole for misconduct in public office related to his family’s business dealing at Circular Quay.

She said the conduct of Eddie Obeid, Moses and MacDonald over the coal exploration conspiracy was “far more egregious”.

But Justice Fullerton ordered a report into how Eddie Obeid, 77, and Macdonald, 72, would potentially be processed into jail given their age, saying she was concerned about how Covid was impacting prisons.

Moses Obeid’s barrister Maurice Neil said his client should be sentenced to a jail term of no more than two years and he was eligible to serve his prison term in the community by way of an intensive corrections order.

Mr Neil argued that Moses Obeid, 52, had no knowledge of the scope and depth of then mineral resources minister Mr Macdonald’s offending in providing documents.

He also argued to take into account Moses’ ill health and prior good character.

Justice Fullerton will sentence the trio at a later date.