Jacksonville 44: Scooping the bottom of the barrel

More information has been leaked by the police to intrepid reporter Steve Lewis about their Craig Thomson "investigation", reports Peter Wicks.

IN WHAT has been, so far, a desperate ten week search for any evidence to back up the charges brought against Craig Thomson, more information has been leaked to the media.

It seems apparent that the NSW Police Cybercrime and Fraud Squad have hit an iceberg. That is the only explanation I can think of at any rate, as they clearly have a leak bigger than the one that sank the Titanic.

News Ltd’s master of balanced reporting, Steve Lewis told us this morning about police seizing documents from a Sydney Hotel. These documents apparently include screenshots from CCTV footage inside the hotel.

In his article, Lewis states, in sinister tones:

'Union records show Mr Thomson stayed at the five-star Westin Hotel in May 2005, paying an amount of $255.53 on May 8.'

Well I've checked, and apparently staying in a five-star hotel is not a crime in NSW. Nor does it sound expensive for a stay in a five-star hotel in Sydney’s CBD, particularly if Thomson went all out and decided he might need to eat or drink on his overnight stay, heaven forbid.

So, what can we expect from this search and what does it tell us?

We can expect tales of exorbitant expenditure on a union credit card, similar to the shocking statement from Lewis above. Maybe a meal, maybe a drink, and at a stretch maybe even an in-house movie — but, let me tell you, with a bill of $255.53, I’m not expecting caviar and French champagne.

What we can also expect is some pictures of Thomson walking in and out the front door, and maybe even strutting his stuff through the lobby — explosive stuff.

What this tells us is that we will no doubt be hearing a lot of talk about times of arrival and departure, and how that somehow seems to relate to other alleged spending on a HSU credit card. This will be in a bid to desperately cobble together some sort of case that is circumstantial in the extreme.

For those of you who don’t know, Sydney is a big city with a population of just over 4.5 million. Sydney also has hundreds of hotels, with people walking in and out of their doors at all hours. A photo of Thomson proves nothing, but the desperation of the story that seems likely to be concocted around it.

I am sure that police will be attempting to paint a picture that Thomson came and left the hotel at a time that fits in with a brothel visit. This will show the frankly embarrassing depths that our police force will have to sink to in order to appease George Brandis.

For what are blatantly obvious reasons, they can’t seem to find any footage of Thomson coming or leaving a brothel, so they now have to execute Plan D; D standing, of course, for desperate.



If the police have to make wild attempts to put something this desperate together, than there is no greater proof of all this being a massive fishing expedition.

I still look back and remember fondly the days when police gathered the evidence before charging someone. Now it seems if a politician wants someone found guilty, then they are charged in a huge public ceremony and then circumstantial evidence is gathered by whatever means possible to make them appear guilty.

This division is becoming a stain on the cocktail dress of the NSW Police Force, and this investigation is becoming an embarrassment to all those who wear the uniform.

I have never given an opinion as to whether I believe Thomson is innocent or guilty, but I can assure you of something: the more desperately they seek to find evidence, and the more wild stunts with dodgy warrants and escorts that change their mind overnight, the more I think that the case against Thomson is based on little more than the word of an alleged thief named Jackson.

The rest is just smoke and mirrors in a stage-managed production called “Thomson, the Musical”.

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