Overview

• The ex-NSW officer, identified only as Officer A, pleaded guilty to perjury and was sentenced in Wollongong District Court to an intensive correction order, avoiding prison.
• He lied under oath in February 2020 about texts he viewed on Jack de Belin’s seized phone, claiming they related to club matters rather than communications with lawyer Craig Osborne.
• The court heard that 190 of 203 messages between de Belin and Osborne were covered by legal professional privilege, which police unlawfully accessed after a December 2019 raid.
• Judge Christine Mendes called the lie a basic and crude falsehood that undermines the justice system, noting a strong link between the officer’s PTSD and his offending as she set the sentence below the 10-year maximum.
• A defense bid for a permanent stay over the privilege breach was earlier dismissed, and de Belin later faced two trials before being acquitted on one count as prosecutors dropped the remaining charges.