Ryan Tandy marches towards fulltime imprisonment for misleading investigations
Ryan Tandy, Former National Rugby League (NRL) player, is found guilty of lying to a New South Wales Crime Commission hearing. He may have to face custodial sentence, as has been confirmed by the New South Wales Crime Commission on December 2.
The player, who had also played Super League with Hull KR and Widnes and Ireland in the World Cup in 2008, is facing fulltime imprisonment for providing misleading evidence.
The player was convicted by magistrate Claire Farnan at Downing Centre Local Court, who has delivered his decision for a custodial sentence, which may vary if the player passes the observation criteria.
While talking about the option of the non-custodial sentence of the player, Claire Farnan said, "I really don't think that I have any option but to impose some form of imprisonment. The authorities are pretty clear that that imprisonment should be full-time.”
The final decision about considering whether the player is suitable for the non custodial sentence will only be implemented after the player has been assessed thoroughly. The non-custodial sentence will entail him to either one or all of the mentioned set
of tasks; community service, electronic monitoring or a curfew. Otherwise, the player will be sent to prison for not yet declared period of time.
The final decision will be made on January 2012, until then the player will be under strict observation, the results of which will decide his future.
It was revealed that the Crime Commission hearings were the add-ons of the investigation by the Casino and Racing Investigation Unit, which were under taken because the Irish International had been suspected of being involved in betting on a NRL match at
Townsville in August 2010, between North Queensland and Canterbury.
The betting scandal cost the player heavily and he was alleged to be part of penalty goal scoring bet. Later, when TAB announced that 95 per cent of bets placed on the first scoring play of the match involved a penalty goal scoring from difficult field positions.
It was deemed that Tandy had allowed the opposing side to score a penalty goal, as he had himself placed bet too. He gave away possession of the ball to Cowboys when the match kicked off and then gave away a penalty. This created the perfect room for a penalty
to get scored but the Cowboys instead opted for a try.
However, in court hearing of the case, Tandy denied his linkage to any of the proceedings on field, which led to his arrest in February 2, 2011 for providing false evidence during the investigation of the betting scandal.
On October 6, Tandy was found to be guilty of manipulating the first scoring point of the game, which nullified his denial and now the prop c*m second rower may have bid farewell to his club
Tandy, was playing for Bull dogs then and was previously also found guilty of his involvement in another match for aiding the opposition. He was fined A$4,000 on that charge and had to serve a 12-month good behaviour bond. However, the prop has appealed
against the decision.
The maximum term involves two year imprisonment but his lawyers are striving hard to bring it down. His reputation for involvement in betting scandal has cost him a lifetime ban from NRL games already.
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