Operation Weather

Lesley Taylor summarised the punishments handed down to the other two hackers. The judge did not look altogether pleased. Finally, he announced he would deal with the case. ‘Two judges have had a crack at it, why not a third one? He might do it properly.’

Galbally was concerned. As the morning progressed, he became increasingly distressed; things were not going well. Judge Ross made clear that he personally favoured a custodial sentence, albeit a suspended one. The only thing protecting Mendax seemed to be the principle of parity in sentencing. Prime Suspect and Trax had committed similar crimes to Mendax, and therefore he had to be given a similar sentence.

Ross ‘registered some surprise’ at Judge Lewis’s disposi- tion toward the sentencing of Prime Suspect. In the context of parity, he told Lesley Taylor, he was at times ‘quite soured by some penalties’ imposed by other judges. He quizzed her for reasons why he might be able to step outside parity.

He told the court that he had not read the telephone inter- cepts in the legal brief. In fact, he had ‘only read the summary of facts’ and when Taylor mentioned ‘International Subversive’, he asked her, ‘What was that?’

Then he asked her how to spell the word ‘phreak’.

Later that day, after Judge Ross had read the other judges’ sentences, he gave Mendax a sentence similar to Prime Suspect’s — a recorded conviction on all counts, a reparation payment of $2100 to ANU and a three-year good behaviour bond.

There were two variations. Prime Suspect and Trax both received $500 good behaviour bonds; Judge Ross ordered a $5000 bond for Mendax. Further, Judge Lewis had given Prime Suspect almost twelve months to pay his $2100 reparation. Judge Ross ordered Mendax to pay within three months.

Judge Ross told Mendax, ‘I repeat what I said before. I thought initially that these were offences which justified a jail sentence, but the mitigatory circumstances would have converted that to a suspended sentence. The sentence given