Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Crikey
Crikey
National
AAP

Fed MP’s offensive emailer avoids jail

A Sydney man has avoided going to jail after sending offensive and menacing emails about Labor’s Kristy McBain before she won the 2020 Eden-Monaro by-election.

The Australian Federal Police charged Cheng Fan from Blacktown with using a telecommunications service to menace, harass or cause offence.

On Thursday he was convicted in Penrith District Court of several offences relating to spam emails sent during the by-election campaign and sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment, wholly suspended.

Australian Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers said that the case marks Australia’s first successful prosecution of a person for breaching electoral laws that prohibit misleading or deceiving Australians about the act of casting a vote

“Yesterday’s sentencing of Mr Fan demonstrates that those who seek to undermine the integrity of Australia’s electoral system will be brought to account,” Mr Rogers said in a statement on Friday.

Fan was also ordered to be of good behaviour for three years, accept Community Corrections Service supervision for as long as considered necessary and continue treatment for mental illness for two years.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.