Appearing before the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday behind makeshift walls to conceal his identity,Witness K was asked by Magistrate Glenn Theakston how he pleaded. “Guilty your honour,” he said.
The move to formally enter a guilty plea paves the way for him to be sentenced within weeks.
His barrister,Robert Richter QC,said Witness K had been a highly decorated officer with the Australian Secret Intelligence Service,with a “blameless and spotless reputation which earned commendation” from the government.
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“There is no utility at this stage in convicting Mr K,” Mr Richter said. “It would simply increase the alienation,the anxiety and the post-traumatic stress when it is not necessary.”
Mr Richter submitted that former attorney-general George Brandis sat on the decision of whether to prosecute his client for three years because he must have held concerns,comparing it with his replacement Christian Porter’s authorisation of the prosecution eight weeks after taking over the portfolio.
Although he conceded the court couldn’t speculate on what Mr Brandis’s decision would have been,Mr Ritcher said the delay increased the “mental anguish” for his client.