The Teacher's Trial

From Hedley Thomas and the journalists at The Australian, The Teacher's Trial follows the events in the trial of Chris Dawson, who is accused of the murder of his wife Lynette Dawson. To read The Australian's ongoing coverage of the trial search The Teacher's Trial or click here. For daily updates from The Australian, search for The Front in your podcast app.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hedley Thomas, Claire Harvey, David Murray, and Matthew Condon return to cover hearings in a major public inquiry into Queensland's state-run DNA lab.  A new episode will be published at the end of every week, for the duration of the inquiry. Search for "Shandee's Story" in your podcast app, and press follow or subscribe to be notified when new episodes are released. You can read The Australian's coverage of the inquiry at theaustralian.com.au. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Just months into his 24-year prison term for murdering wife Lynette Simms, Chris Dawson is back before the courts, pleading not guilty to carnal knowledge of a schoolgirl in 1980, when he was her sports teacher. Hedley Thomas, Claire Harvey, David Murray, Matthew Condon, Kristen Amiet and Jasper Leak return with Season 2 of our acclaimed podcast The Teacher’s Trial.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Australian's global smash-hit podcast Teacher's Pet returns for Australian audiences on July 1. You can find it wherever you got this podcast. Just search for "The Teacher's Pet". See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hedley Thomas, Claire Harvey and David Murray reveal how our smash-hit podcasts get made. Find out more about The Front podcast here and read about this story and more on The Australian's website or search for The Australian in your app store. This episode of The Front is presented and produced by Kristen Amiet, and edited by Lia Tsamoglou. Our regular host is Claire Harvey and original music is composed by Jasper Leak.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listen to Hedley Thomas reading Chapter 1 of his new book, The Teacher's Pet. The book is published by Pan Macmillan and is available at all good bookstores, and wherever you get audiobooks. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Where is Bronwyn Winfield? The devoted mum has been missing since 1993 – and the man behind The Teacher’s Pet is on the case.   Go to theaustralian.com.au/bronwyn to listen. Plus, you can read more about this case and see exclusive stories, maps, timelines, graphics, video and more. This episode of The Front is presented by Claire Harvey, produced by Kristen Amiet and edited by Josh Burton. The multimedia editor is Lia Tsamoglou and original music is composed by Jasper Leak.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Teacher's Trial creator Hedley Thomas returns with a new podcast investigation for The Australian.  Subscribers to The Australian and registered users hear episodes of ‘Bronwyn’ first. Plus, you can read more about this case and see exclusive stories, maps, timelines, graphics, video and more at bronwynpodcast.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Four decades after former star footballer and high school teacher Chris Dawson allegedly murdered his wife Lyn, a murder trial her family feared would never happen has begun. The prosecution revealed that a new witness - a former Newtown Jets team-mate of the accused wife killer - will allege Dawson asked him in 1975 to help 'get rid' of Lyn. Dawson strenuously denies wrongdoing. And in the lead up to the trial for the most high profile cold case in Australia's history, judges gave their verdicts on Dawson's right to a fair trial in light of The Teacher's Pet podcast series, the delays of 40 years since Lyn's disappearance, and the conduct of earlier police investigations. For daily updates from The Australian, search for "The Front" in your podcast app. The National Sexual Assault Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service can be reached on 1800RESPECT.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Dawson’s former babysitter “JC” gives evidence that he groomed her, then turned her into his “sex slave” and a substitute mother for his children after his wife Lyn’s sudden disappearance. Lyn’s friend and neighbour Julie Andrew and siblings Greg Simms and Pat Jenkins tell of the trauma of the past 40 years, as their nightmare is brought to life through diaries, letters and photographs. For daily updates from The Australian, search for "The Front" in your podcast app. The National Sexual Assault Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service can be reached on 1800RESPECT.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s an intense and emotional week in court as Lyn’s workmates and friends tell of a steady deterioration of her marriage to Chris Dawson. Witnesses are tested on allegations of bruising on Lyn and violence and aggression in the home. The evidence takes us from the school grounds of Cromer High to seaside village South West Rocks, to the backdrop of a chart-topping song. For daily updates from The Australian, search for "The Front" in your podcast app. The National Sexual Assault Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service can be reached on 1800RESPECT.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The court hears Chris Dawson's story in his own words as video of his first and only police interview on the topic of his wife's disappearance is played in full. His brother, Peter Dawson, remembers the crucial weeks and months following Lynette Dawson's disappearance and a teenage co-worker of JC recounts a frightening encounter with Chris Dawson, who allegedly warned him to stay away from JC. And this decades-old cold case hits a very modern road bump thanks to COVID-19.   For daily updates from The Australian, search for "The Front" in your podcast app. The National Sexual Assault Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service can be reached on 1800RESPECT.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The voices of Chris and Paul Dawson echo through the court once more as intercepted phone calls from the late '90s are played publicly for the first time. Members of the Dawson family, including twin brother Paul and sister-in-law Marilyn, recall the events leading up to and following Lynette Dawson’s disappearance decades earlier and mount a fierce defence of the accused. The Crown bolsters evidence from former Dawson family babysitter JC, calling on former school friends and fellow playgroup mums to testify about her life in Queensland and the deterioration of her marriage to Chris Dawson. For daily updates from The Australian, search for "The Front" in your podcast app. The National Sexual Assault Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service can be reached on 1800RESPECT.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The names and reputations of Sydney’s most notorious crime figures are connected to Chris Dawson’s murder trial, as the focus turns to the gangland milieu surrounding the Newtown Jets rugby league club. The crown’s criminally-connected witness Robert Silkman speaks of his friendship with heroin trafficker and Newtown teammate Paul Hayward, and his drinking buddy and brother-in-law, psychopathic contract killer Neddy Smith. Silkman’s claims that Dawson asked him to help “get rid” of Lyn after a Newtown players' trip to the Gold Coast are ferociously attacked by the defence team.  For daily updates from The Australian, search for "The Front" in your podcast app. The National Sexual Assault Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service can be reached on 1800RESPECT.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A retired cop makes an explosive revelation that an unverified and fleeting purported sighting of Lyn Dawson at a fruit barn closed down the first homicide investigation in the early 1990s. The court hears investigative files were left to decay in a damp storage facility, never to be found again. An author and confidante of family babysitter `JC’ speaks of her motivations for writing a book about her friend’s saga with Chris and Lyn Dawson, and her transition from student to teenage bride and “sex slave”. For daily updates from The Australian, search for "The Front" in your podcast app. The National Sexual Assault Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service can be reached on 1800RESPECT.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Hedley Thomas will be in the witness box in the trial of Chris Dawson. The Australian's daily news podcast The Front will be publishing daily updates. Search for The Front in your podcast app, and hit the follow or subscribe button to get daily updates on the trial of Chris Dawson and Hedley's appearance as a witness.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hedley Thomas, the award-winning journalist behind The Teacher's Pet podcast, enters the witness box in the trial's eighth week. Thomas mounts a fiery defence of investigative journalism amid a fierce cross-examination by defence barrister Pauline David. Detective Damian Loone also returns to the witness box for a grilling over his investigative methods and integrity. The former cop stands firm under the onslaught, defending his actions in seeking justice for Lyn and answers for her family. For daily updates from The Australian, search for "The Front" in your podcast app. The National Sexual Assault Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service can be reached on 1800RESPECT.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police taps on Chris Dawson’s phone in 2018 as episodes of The Teacher’s Pet were unfolding reveal him and his twin brother Paul raging over the former babysitter-cum-wife JC, as well as journalists, TV crews and homicide cop Damian Loone. In one intercept Chris discloses he was still hearing from Lyn some ‘six or eight weeks’ after she disappeared - although in 1982 he told police his contact with Lyn ceased after a week. He says of Lyn: 'she took off'. The evidentiary value of bruises described by witnesses on Lyn’s arms, neck and leg is weighed by the judge as the trial reaches its pointy end. For daily updates from The Australian, search for "The Front" in your podcast app. The National Sexual Assault Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service can be reached on 1800RESPECT.    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Obsessed with teenage babysitter JC, Christopher Dawson murdered his wife Lyn in terror of losing what he so deeply desired. That was the powerful thrust of a meticulous and forensic closing address, delivered over two days by Crown prosecutor Craig Everson SC. Everson said Dawson made four separate plans to escape his marriage before ultimately killing Lyn, disposing of her body and racing to South West Rocks to collect JC and install her in the family home, wearing Lyn's clothes and her rings. This is the first of two episodes focusing on the closing submissions by each side. In the next episode: The Defence Closes.For daily updates from The Australian, search for "The Front" in your podcast app.The National Sexual Assault Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service can be reached on 1800RESPECT. Lifeline can be reached on 13 11 14.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Dawson is a man of good character, badly let down by police and unfairly tainted over the disappearance of his wife: that's the essence of the Defence's closing address on behalf of the accused. Finally, the court got to hear Dawson's side of the story. Through barrister Pauline David, he admitted having behaved 'horribly' towards Lyn by beginning a relationship with babysitter JC, leaving his wife in such despair she walked out and cut off all contact with her family. We heard from a surprising defence witness, and got some clues about Justice Ian Harrison's thinking, as he sought Ms David's rebuttal of the Crown's case. We hear the voices of Dawson family insiders, including Chris himself, in flashbacks to The Teacher's Pet investigation. This is our longest episode yet, as we explore the fine detail of Chris' claims to be an innocent man, wrongly persecuted.  To read The Australian's ongoing coverage of the trial search The Teacher's Trial or click here. The National Sexual Assault Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service can be reached on 1800RESPECT.  Lifeline can be reached on 13 11 14.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.