Former judge jailed after lying to avoid $70 fine

A former Australian judge was jailed for at least two years today for lying to police that someone else was driving his car when it was clocked speeding.

Marcus Einfeld (aged 70) pleaded guilty in New South Wales Supreme Court to perjury and making a false statement with intent to pervert the course of justice to avoid a AUS$75 (€38) traffic fine.

Einfeld is a recipient of the Order of Australia, one of the country's highest civilian honours, for his humanitarian work.

He initially told police that a friend visiting from overseas was driving his car when it was caught by a speed camera at 6.2 miles an hour over the speed limit. When it was discovered that the woman he named had died three years earlier, Einfeld then gave a false 20-page written statement, setting out elaborate details of another version of events that still maintained he was not the driver.

Justice Bruce James said in his sentencing that Einfeld engaged in "deliberate, premeditated perjury". He imposed a maximum three-year sentence, with at least two years to be served.

"Any lawyer, and especially a lawyer who has been a barrister and a judge, who commits such an offence is to be sentenced on the basis that he would have been fully aware of the gravity of his conduct," Judge James said.

He said Einfeld had engaged in "planned criminal activity," detailing the numerous lies in his police statement and in court testimony when he asserted he was not behind the wheel.

James said Einfeld could be released on parole on March 19, 2011.

Einfeld did not make a public statement after the sentencing but embraced some supporters before he was led away.

The president of the Law Society of New South Wales, Joe Catanzariti, welcomed the tough sentence, saying it would give the public confidence in the legal system. But he said it was sad that Einfeld had ruined his reputation because of a "major error of judgment".

"The sad thing in all of this is you do have a great man who has done great works, and ... the substantive thing that started it is so trivial," he said.

"His reputation is certainly destroyed. All the good works get forgotten, and people will remember this in a lifetime of great works."