ID :
182936
Wed, 05/18/2011 - 14:13
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/182936
The shortlink copeid
Hinch gets jail reprieve for transplant
(AAP) - Cancer-stricken broadcaster Derryn Hinch will be given a two-month reprieve from jail if he's found guilty of naming sex offenders, to give him time to receive a life-saving transplant.
Hinch, who is awaiting a liver transplant, says he may have only two months to live.
But the veteran broadcaster says he will continue to fight charges of breaching suppression orders when he appears in court on Friday.
If Hinch is found guilty, prosecutors have agreed to adjourn sentencing for two months.
Hinch, who, on the steps of the Victorian Parliament in 2008, named sex offenders who were the subject of suppression orders, faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
On Wednesday, he appeared briefly in the Melbourne Magistrates Court where his barrister informed Magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg of Hinch's condition and sought a sentencing adjournment.
Flanked by his wife Chanel Hayton, Hinch told reporters outside court he was in a "life-and-death lottery" and the adjournment would give him time.
"Whatever happens Friday, whether we win or lose, I won't be going to jail immediately," he said.
"I will have two months in which I hope I can get a transplant. Then we see what happens there.
"Bob Jones, my surgeon, in his statement to the court, he estimates without a transplant I have got probably, now, two or three months to live. S,o those two months will not be anywhere else, it is going to be very, very precious."
Hinch must stay within 45 minutes of Melbourne's Austin Hospital as he awaits his transplant.
In March, Hinch lost a High Court challenge to the laws that he is charged under.
But on Wednesday, Hinch said that on his reading of the High Court judgment there were grounds for him to contest the charge.
"The High Court has come out and virtually said, seven-nil, that merely by naming somebody or even listing their offences does not technically identify them," he said.
"You need more than that. So, I'm not going to plead guilty to a crime the High Court said I didn't commit. So, that is why I am going to fight on Friday. We may win it."
Hinch said that if found guilty he did not want a suspended sentence because he had campaigned against them for years.
In court, his barrister, Peter Faris, QC, said Hinch needed to get his health right before he could be sentenced.
Mr Rozencwajg expressed doubts about whether the government's Justice Health could accommodate a person awaiting a liver transplant.
He said if Hinch was convicted, he may hear some of his pre-sentence submissions on Friday.
Hinch's hopes were lifted briefly last week when he was called to the hospital after a potential donor liver was found, only to be sent home when it was found the liver was not an exact match.
Hinch, who is awaiting a liver transplant, says he may have only two months to live.
But the veteran broadcaster says he will continue to fight charges of breaching suppression orders when he appears in court on Friday.
If Hinch is found guilty, prosecutors have agreed to adjourn sentencing for two months.
Hinch, who, on the steps of the Victorian Parliament in 2008, named sex offenders who were the subject of suppression orders, faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
On Wednesday, he appeared briefly in the Melbourne Magistrates Court where his barrister informed Magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg of Hinch's condition and sought a sentencing adjournment.
Flanked by his wife Chanel Hayton, Hinch told reporters outside court he was in a "life-and-death lottery" and the adjournment would give him time.
"Whatever happens Friday, whether we win or lose, I won't be going to jail immediately," he said.
"I will have two months in which I hope I can get a transplant. Then we see what happens there.
"Bob Jones, my surgeon, in his statement to the court, he estimates without a transplant I have got probably, now, two or three months to live. S,o those two months will not be anywhere else, it is going to be very, very precious."
Hinch must stay within 45 minutes of Melbourne's Austin Hospital as he awaits his transplant.
In March, Hinch lost a High Court challenge to the laws that he is charged under.
But on Wednesday, Hinch said that on his reading of the High Court judgment there were grounds for him to contest the charge.
"The High Court has come out and virtually said, seven-nil, that merely by naming somebody or even listing their offences does not technically identify them," he said.
"You need more than that. So, I'm not going to plead guilty to a crime the High Court said I didn't commit. So, that is why I am going to fight on Friday. We may win it."
Hinch said that if found guilty he did not want a suspended sentence because he had campaigned against them for years.
In court, his barrister, Peter Faris, QC, said Hinch needed to get his health right before he could be sentenced.
Mr Rozencwajg expressed doubts about whether the government's Justice Health could accommodate a person awaiting a liver transplant.
He said if Hinch was convicted, he may hear some of his pre-sentence submissions on Friday.
Hinch's hopes were lifted briefly last week when he was called to the hospital after a potential donor liver was found, only to be sent home when it was found the liver was not an exact match.
