Overview

• The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal dismissed Dawson’s appeal by a 2-1 majority, with Justice Peter Hamill dissenting.
• The judges found sufficient evidence that his first sexual encounter with the student known as AB occurred before December 1980 when she was 16.
• Evidence cited included AB’s testimony of a kiss in Dawson’s car and a card he sent in early 1981 referring to her as “the most beautiful girl in the world.”
• Dawson’s 2023 conviction for carnal knowledge added one year to his 18-year non-parole period for the 2022 murder of his wife, Lynette Simms.
• He is currently incarcerated at Silverwater prison and has applied for special leave to appeal his murder conviction to the High Court.