A 67-year-old man has been sentenced to six months imprisonment, wholly suspended with a conviction recorded after being charged with criminal defamation.
Tinbeerwah man, Richard Sinclair appeared in the Noosa Magistrates court on Tuesday 30 July after Noosa detectives charged him with criminal defamation for sharing false claims against his former sports club associate Dennis Burgess.
Richard pleaded guilty after distributing flyers throughout multiple homes in Tewantin falsely claiming his former sporting associate was a paedophile.
The flyer contained the name and address of the 70-year-old victim along with a number of false allegations about his alleged criminal history.
Richard is also required to pay a compensation fine of $1000.
Officer in Charge of Noosa Police Station, Senior Sergeant Ben Carroll, said the victim and his family were devastated by the allegations shared amongst the tight-knit community.
“This should serve as a warning to others that police take offences like this very seriously and will prosecute over the sharing of defamatory and malicious information,” Senior Sergeant Carroll said.
