Rich-lister Brierley to appeal jail term

Disgraced businessman Ron Brierley, jailed for 14 months for the possession of thousands of images of pre-pubescent girls, has signalled he will appeal his sentence.

The expat Wellingtonian and former Knight Bachelor, 84, was sentenced in a Sydney court earlier this month, having pleaded guilty to three charges of possession of child-abuse material.

The Supreme Court of New South Wales confirmed a notice of intention to appeal had been filed with the Court of Criminal Appeal, giving Brierley 12 months to file the actual appeal.

The rich-lister’s lawyer earlier said his fall from grace had been radical, with his name removed from cricket pavilions and schools, and he had lost his knighthood.

Brierley had been diagnosed with a hoarding disorder which, along with the material he was caught with, included stamps and newspaper clippings.

He also outlined medical issues, severe coronary artery disease, deterioration in his mobility, along with vascular dementia.

Australian Border Force officials stopped Brierley from boarding a flight from Sydney to Fiji in December 2019 and found the cache of child sexual-abuse material, along with more at his home.

He told officials he thought some of the children were as young as 8 and the oldest about 20. He also had documents about a subscription service of girls. He told them he found the images interesting, and he had looked at them the night before he was caught.

Judge Sarah Huggett said a sentence of imprisonment was required. She did not accept that he did not know the images were illegal. She outlined his health difficulties, but did not think they were such that they should keep him out of prison.

The judge said there have been consequences, with his significant contributions ‘‘literally expunged’’.

‘‘As your counsel said, your fall from grace was radical.’’