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No conviction for Ben Fordham

Ben Fordham and former A Current Affair producer Andrew Byrne have escaped conviction after breaching the NSW Listening Devices Act.

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Nine News reporter Ben Fordham and former A Current Affair producer Andrew Byrne have escaped conviction after breaching the NSW Listening Devices Act with a story aired in May 2008.

Fordham, former ACA producer Andrew Byrne and Channel Nine were charged with breaching the Listening Devices Act in relation to a story showing a former Waverley mayor, James Markham, allegedly ordering a hit on a male escort.

But in the NSW Supreme Court today the judge decided not to record a conviction for both men because of their good character, lack of prior convictions and because they had been given the green light by lawyers to run the story. Last month Nine was also acquitted.

A Nine spokesperson said: “The Nine Network and its journalists take their legal obligations very seriously and would never intentionally break the law. The Network is pleased that both Ben Fordham and Andrew Byrne have not had a conviction recorded against them, and the Network continues to have complete confidence in its legal advisors.”

Source: smh.com.au

13 Responses

  3. So these types of journo’s get away with it yet again. *rolls eyes* Screw this! Our judicial system is an absolute joke!

    Today Tonight and ACA are complete rubbish yet people seem to tune in every single night. Ridiculous.

  5. Once again the rats escape through the holes, what a joke our judicial system is by letting these creeps get away with this,to right it sends the wrong message,as they say if you have enough money behind you,you will get away with anything.

  6. He is way too obvious with his bias. He always talks down Gillard and talks up Abbott but prefaces it by stating that one or the other had made a good/bad decision previously to disguise it. I’m not even sure why they used him so much in the election. Whatever you think about twitter it clearly leans towards Abbott critics yet all he ever read out on air were weak lines of support for Gillard or scathing attacks on her. His ‘analysis’ that he than provided for those tweets was totally irrelevant, why does anyone care what his interpretation is? He is a middling just-out-of-ACA ‘journo’, not a trusted and respected source of knowledge.

  7. @dave well at least we can agree on one thing 🙂
    these sort of cracks in the legal system that doesn’t punish those who break the law, really upset me because I’ve never ever done anything illegal in my life and I’m wishful that people like me can still live our life the way we are without the lawbreakers doing the wrong thing and not be punished.

  10. Sorry Anthony, I have to disagree with you on Fordham’s atttactiveness, but do agree with your first statement on this outcome sending the wrong messages.

  13. Regardless of their good character, their prior convictions or whatever their lawyers told them, they broke the law. This sort of sentence gives out the message that we can break laws and not receive any consequences if we happen to be able to have good character references etc..
    Did they get fined or anything?

    I follow Ben Fordham on twitter… Be only because I find him attractive… 🙂

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