Tragic affair
They led a lavish life of holidays and partying, but judge Simon Kenny, 60, and his assistant, Emma Coates, 47, were hiding many secrets.
Not only were they having an affair, but over a four-year period, they’d also taken more than $1 million from their law firm’s clients.
During this time, Emma paid off four mortgages, and bought a Range Rover.
When their accountant, Robert Foskett, twigged to what was going on, he was so distressed about what he’d unknowingly been part of that he committed suicide.
I am so sorry but the pressure mounts on me, he wrote in his farewell note.
By this time the lovers had split, and when the matter reached court they blamed each other for the fraud.
Not even the judge’s influential status could sway his colleagues into giving him a more lenient sentence.
Both he and Emma were jailed for six years.
Pump up the sentence
A police officer was giving evidence during a murder trial when he heard a strange whooshing noise.
It was coming from Judge Donald Thompson’s bench.
During a break, the officer looked under the bench and was stunned to find a penis pump! Detectives later interviewed court reporter, Lisa Foster, who admitted she’d seen the judge, 59, expose himself numerous times, adding that he’d also used the pump in court.
During one trial, she’d heard the penis pump while the grandfather of a murdered child tearfully gave evidence.
“The judge was up there pumping on that pump,” Lisa said. “I was really shocked.”
Thompson was charged with indecent exposure. He denied claims, saying the pump was a gag gift from a friend. But the jury didn’t buy it. He was jailed for four years and served two.
Life didn’t improve after his release either – his pension was revoked, he split from his wife, and he was arrested for driving under the influence and stalking a new girlfriend.
Nippers perv
Criminals hated appearing before stern Adelaide magistrate Peter Liddy.
He seemed like an upstanding member of society, volunteering as a Little Nippers coach at his local surf club, and generously giving up his time every weekend to teach lifesaving skills to hundreds of youngsters.
What nobody knew was he was a sick pervert, preying on boys aged between eight and 10.
When his victims finally came forward, Liddy offered $5000 to one to keep quiet – but the police were already on to him.
He was convicted of nine child sex crimes and became the first Australian judicial officer convicted of paedophilia.
He was slapped with a 25-year sentence, but the former magistrate knew how to work the system and applied for a protection order, meaning he didn’t have to mix with inmates who might not have warmed to a former magistrate in their midst.
Locked up for 23 hours a day in solitary, he didn’t receive a single visitor for the next 10 years.
He’ll be eligible for parole in 2019, at the age of 74.
Paying the price
Nobody really knows why retired judge Marcus Einfeld lied to avoid such a small speeding fine.
He received a retired judge’s pension of $200,000 a year, so a $77 fine was peanuts.
And the three demerit points wouldn’t even have cost him his licence.
But his journey to prison started when he was caught doing 10km/hr above the speed limit near his home in Mosman, NSW.
He contested the penalty, and under oath in court claimed a friend, Professor Teresa Brennan, visiting from America, had been driving his car at the time.
A reporter for The Daily Telegraph was in court and discovered Teresa Brennan couldn’t have driven Enfield’s car… because she’d been dead three years.
Asked to explain, Einfeld claimed it was another Teresa Brennan and produced an elaborate 22-page statement to back up his claim.
The contents were quickly disproved. He was arrested and charged.
Incredibly, he continued to deny wrongdoing until his Supreme Court appearance.
There Einfeld, 70, finally admitted his lies.
He pleaded guilty to perjury and making a false statement to pervert the course of justice and was jailed for three years.
Camp fired
As he ogled strippers, Jack T. Camp looked just like any other man at the Goldrush Showbar.
But Camp, 67, was a senior district judge in Atlanta. He was an army veteran, married with two kids, and respected for his no-nonsense approach to the law. But when it came to stripper Sherry Ann Ramos, Judge Camp threw the rule book away.
He paid her for sex and the pair used drugs together. He even gave her his government-issued laptop. Unfortunately for him, the FBI caught wind of his activities. Sherry had a record for drug possession, so agreed to help the FBI with a sting, luring the judge into a drug deal.
“I’ll watch your back,” Camp told Sherry, packing two guns. The ‘dealer’ was an undercover agent and Camp was arrested.
The defence claimed bi-polar, brain damage from a cycling accident and incorrect prescription medicine affected Camp’s judgment.
His wife stood by him as he was forced to retire from the bench and jailed for 30 days.
Ugly lies
Constance Briscoe’s childhood memoir made for harrowing reading. It was called Ugly and detailed the physical and emotional abuse she’d suffered at the hands of her mother.
As a young black woman growing up in an abusive home in a deprived area of South London, Constance’s future looked grim.
Thankfully, she was incredibly intelligent. She won a place at university to study law and went on to become a barrister and judge.
Her book sold 600,000 copies, making her rich and famous. Her fame only increased when her mother unsuccessfully sued her, claiming Ugly was all lies.
She appeared on TV discussion shows as a panellist, often criticising people who refused to work to better themselves like she’d done.
But then, it all came tumbling down.
Her husband Anthony Arlidge, 75, left her for a woman 50 years his junior. The same year, Constance’s friend Vicky Pryce also split with her hubby, who was an MP. Both women felt betrayed and Vicky wanted revenge.
Constance, 56, used her media experience to help leak a story that claimed Vicky had accepted penalty points on her licence on her husband’s behalf.
When Constance gave a statement to police, she claimed she’d had a conversation with Vicky about the points in 2003.
Unfortunately, Vicky claimed she couldn’t remember the chat and Constance Briscoe was charged with perverting the course of justice.
She was jailed for 16 months and disbarred. She’s now bankrupt.
