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A start-up millionaire nephew of former ABC chair Ita Buttrose is no longer appealing his punishment over fraud charges after a judge said there was “no merit to the application”.
Andrew Spira was expected to appeal his sentence in Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception.
The 25-year-old pleaded guilty to using stolen credit card details to book a bed and breakfast in the NSW Hunter Valley.
Spira was convicted, sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order and told he must continue mental health treatment.
He immediately launched an appeal after his sentence in January.
Spira sat in the public gallery of the court on Tuesday as his lawyer Justin Wong indicated the severity appeal was going to be withdrawn.
Acting Judge Paul Conlon accepted the withdrawal, telling the court he “didn’t think there was any merit” to the appeal.
According to court documents, Spira and his partner had organised to spend the night at Mala Retreat in Louth Park, north of Newcastle, and were captured on CCTV entering the premises.
Spira’s partner, who was not charged with any wrongdoing, later arranged for the couple to spend another night at the bed and breakfast but was told their payment was declined.
She apologised and said she would “fix the payment”.
Later that afternoon, the owner was contacted by a woman who claimed her details had been fraudulently used to pay for accommodation and immediately contacted local police.
Spira and his partner left the remote bed and breakfast in a private taxi before police could arrive.
The couple then flew to the Northern Territory, leaving behind a bill of $948.10.
Spira was arrested by Darwin police on May 22 while trying to flee the country on a false passport to raise an armed militia in Southeast Asia. He was later convicted in a Northern Territory court.
Police searched Spira’s phone following his arrest, uncovering messages between the millionaire and an “unknown entity” who provided the bank details used to book the accommodation.
Defence lawyer Samir Karnib in January told the court that Spira, who is the son of Sydney socialite Elizabeth Buttrose, was heavily influenced by a range of drugs at the time of the offending.
“He was in a drug-induced psychosis … The major point of the offending is that he was influenced by a significant amount of drugs that had a major impact on his actions,” Mr Karnib said at the time.
“He calls it his own self-destruction, he had no reason to do what he did. He was of the view someone was chasing him. He can’t change what has happened, but he regrets it completely.”
Mr Karnib told the court that Spira did not remember much from the time of the offence and “within the hour” of getting the accommodation’s bank details, he had paid back the amount in full.
In sentencing, magistrate Julie Zaki told the court that psychological reports tendered during both matters described Spira’s long standing mental health issues, including complex PTSD.
Ms Zaki said it was “to his credit” that Spira had sobered up following his two months in custody in the NT but ruled against an attempt by Mr Karnib to have the matter dealt with by a fine.
She convicted Spira of a 12-month community corrections order, in addition to an existing good behaviour bond for the NT charges.
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