After a needlessly protracted deferral, student whistleblower Freya Newman has received a two-year good behaviour bond for leaking details about Prime Minster Tony Abbott’s daughter Frances regarding her scholarship to Whitehouse Institute of Design.
Appearing before the Downing Centre court in September, Newman, 21, plead guilty to breaching Section 308(H) of the NSW Crimes Act to retrieve information revealing that Abbott paid some $7,000 for her Bachelor of Design $68,000 degree, on the grounds that she had received an undisclosed, unadvertised merit-based scholarship after one meeting with the Whitehouse Institute’s founder.
The Herald are reporting that Magistrate Teresa O’Sullivan was satisfied Newman wasn’t motivated by greed or malice, but “by a sense of injustice,” labelling her actions “one of the lowest end [offences] on the spectrum.”
“[Newman] did not access highly sensitive or commercially sensitive data, such as a residential address or banking details.”
No conviction has been recorded against Newman, who reportedly left the court to deserved applause.
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