Former Federal Labor MP Craig Thomson has been arrested on the NSW Central Coast for allegedly violating an order for arrest violence (AVO) just hours after pleading guilty to charges of domestic violence in court.
Key points:
- Former Federal Labor MP Craig Thomson has pleaded guilty to a number of charges
- He has been convicted of sending two threatening emails to his estranged wife
- The judge has described his behavior as shameful
Police said they arrested Thomson in Wamberal at 2.30pm and he was taken to Gosford police station.
He is not charged and is assisting police with their investigations.
It comes after the 57-year-old pleaded guilty to several charges of domestic violence involving his ex-wife at Gosford Local Court this morning.
During the same hearing, the conditions for Thomson’s AVO were relaxed.
Police issued an AVO against the former member of Dobell last year after he sent 140 emails including two threatening ones to his estranged wife.
He spent one night in police custody in January, after violating AVO conditions on several occasions.
Emails Thomson sent were a concern, the judge said
Thomson was represented in court by former NSW Labor boss who became criminal lawyer Jamie Clements.
Mr. Clements told the court that Thomson lost “everything in his life” last year when his marriage broke down.
Magistrate Michael Antrum said two threatening emails – which he described as a mocking tone – were most worrying.
“People have the right to be free from technical interference.”
Police prosecutors described Thomson as “manifest violation of court order” and agreed on the most serious matters related to the two harassing emails.
Thomson showed little emotion throughout the case, but nodded appreciatively several times as he was spoken to by the judge.
The judge said Thomson’s early guilty plea, an apology, that he had no criminal history in NSW and the fact that he was not trying to evade responsibility were all taken into account.
The former MP was convicted of using a transport service to threaten, harass and insult and sentenced to an 18-month conditional release order.
He was found guilty, but no verdict was recorded in relation to the AVO violations heard this morning.
The former union official was elected as a federal member of the Central Coast seat in Dobell in the 2007 election.
In 2012, he was suspended by the Labor Party and jerked off.
The following year, he ran as an independent candidate, but lost his seat to the Liberal Party.
He was formally expelled from the NSW Labor Party in 2014.