Chris Dawson Loses Carnal Knowledge Conviction Appeal

Convicted murderer and former teacher Chris Dawson has failed to overturn a conviction for unlawful sexual activity with a student in the 1980s.

Dawson was sentenced to jail for three years for the crime of carnal knowledge, but is also serving a longer sentence of 24 years for the murder of his first wife, Lynette Simms, who disappeared in 1982.

The Court of Criminal Appeal dismissed the appeal in a majority 2-1 decision on Friday morning.

Although the 76-year-old didn’t dispute the accusation of sexual activity with the girl, known by the pseudonym AB, he did dispute the timing of the relationship, claiming she had turned 17 before sexual activity occurred.

At the time of the conviction, Judge Sarah Huggett said a card he sent to AB in early 1981 represented “powerful evidence” sexual activity had already occurred, with Dawson calling the child “the most beautiful girl in the world”.

Following the appeal, Justices Kristina Stern and Sarah McNaughton both dismissed all three grounds, finding no error in the trial judge’s treatment of evidence concerning a timeline of events in 1980.

“As is clear, having regard to the evidence as a whole, I am wholly satisfied that it is sufficient in nature and quality to eliminate any reasonable doubt as to the applicant’s guilt,” Justice Stern wrote.

No doubt that sexual relationship occurred

Justice Peter Hamill said Dawson “ultimately had a sexual relationship” with AB, he was not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt, and said he would have quashed the conviction and entered a verdict of not guilty.

Hamill did accept that the supporting evidence proved “intimacy” and “the development of a forbidden love”.

“It raised suspicion, perhaps a grave suspicion, but it did not establish to the exclusion of all other possible inferences, that sexual intercourse took place in 1980,” he said.

“The reasonable doubt I entertain as to the timing of the first act of sexual intercourse cannot be resolved by reference to the trial Judge’s advantage in seeing and hearing the witnesses give their evidence.”

The full reasons of the court have not yet been published.

Dawson has previously attempted to appeal his murder sentence, with the Court of Criminal Appeal finding no doubt about his guilt. However, he’s attempting to have the issue heard by the High Court in an effort to gain a new trial.

He will not be eligible for release from jail until 2041, at which time he will be 93 years old.