Reporter cleared on illegal recording
A Current Affair reporter Ben Fordham escaped conviction for breaches of the Listening Devices Act on August 27.
The charges against Fordham and his producer, Andrew Byrne, included concealing a device to record a private conversation and knowingly communicating a private conversation to the public.
The use of recording devices without the knowledge of the other party contravenes the Listening Devices Act.
Justice Elizabeth Fullerton took into account his good character and previous instances in which he cooperated with police. However, Fordham still faces a conviction of concealing a serious offence.
What has become a saga fit for a soap opera began with a former Liberal mayor of Waverley, Robert James Markham, allegedly paying his nephew Sean Tolmie $12,000 to kidnap, torture and murder a male escort, Paul Dunshea.
It was alleged that Tolmie, seeking revenge against his uncle for mistreatment as a boy, took a mobile recording of Markham’s plans to A Current Affair. In the sting that followed, Fordham took his role as investigative journalist to new heights, posing as an underworld contract killer and entering a car bugged with cameras and microphones to gain video and audio of Markham admitting his intentions.
But Fordham received more than he bargained for, with Markham recorded saying he wanted to watch the escort being brutalised and that there were two more people he wanted harmed, dependending on the success of Fordham’s first venture.
This ACA story could be the plot of a trashy paperback but it is arguably in the public interest to know its contents. Markham, a public figure who once held a position of power and trust, is now facing trial on charges of recruiting others to commit crimes, including kidnap and assault.
