Redo on jail term for sex offender

A SEX offender who was jailed for using dating sites in contravention of a court order will be re-sentenced because a Supreme Court judge found the penalty was based on disputed facts.

Arthur Fairwell, 52, of East Launceston, was sentenced in September to one year in jail, with a non-parole period of six months, after pleading guilty to three counts of failing to comply with the reporting obligations required of registered sex offenders.

The Launceston Magistrates Court heard Fairwell created an alias, Ashley Kenmore, to meet women through dating sites Plenty of Fish and Tinder between August 12 last year and April 7 this year.

In a decision handed down in the Supreme Court in Hobart this week, Justice Helen Wood said the sentencing magistrate took into account a pre-sentence report that contained information disputed by Fairwell, and which aggravated the seriousness of his crimes.

The report included a statement that Fairwell “justified his behaviour” by saying: “I want to have the last say – women on these dating sites are dysfunctional rejects of society, pathetic and retarded. They lie, swear and are abusive, and all I do is tell them how wrong they are by making a new email account, sending them an email and telling them ‘you piece of bleeping bleep’ and then I delete that email account.”

Justice Wood said Fairwell did not dispute the quote but he denied it was said in justification of his conduct.

She said he disputed other elements of the report which also related to substantive matters that would have had a bearing on the penalty imposed.

Justice Wood said Fairwell told the magistrate there were misrepresentations and information that was wrong in the report, but the magistrate did not inquire further about the matters in dispute.

“To proceed without inquiry was unfair to the applicant,” Justice Wood said.

“[The] sentence was imposed on the basis of disputed facts.”

She said Fairwell would be re-sentenced.