A former Labor Senator and his wife face special penalties totalling more than $67,000 after being found guilty of trafficking in abalone.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A Supreme Court jury in Launceston found Shayne Michael Murphy, 69, and Ruhua (Katy) Liu, 52, guilty of the charges under the Living Marine Resources Management Act 1995.
During the four-day trial the jury heard Mr Murphy packed three boxes of abalone worth a total of $33,945 which Ms Liu took to the depot of Toll Tasmania in Launceston on December 14, 2015.
IN OTHER NEWS: Rap song killer claims jail term excessive
The consignment was addressed to a Robert Zhang who shared facilities with a company called Ash Brothers Seafood in Melbourne.
In a police interview Mr Murphy conceded that he expected to be "looked after down the track" for the abalone.
The jury heard that Mr Murphy and Ms Liu were formerly partners in a seafood business in Mowbray called Tasmania Seafood Market which collapsed in 2013.
The defence argued that the abalone was left over from the Mowbray business, but a former owner Leo Cui and a former employee John McQueen gave evidence that the business never dealt with abalone and it hadn't been present at a final stocktake.
Justice Robert Pearce questioned an initial submission by defence counsel Patrick O' Halloran that the abalone was a remnant of the business.
"To accept that I would have to reject the evidence of Messrs Cui and McQueen," Justice Pearce said.
"What I am grappling with at the moment is the inherent implausibility that Mr Murphy packed up the fish and sent it for consumption two and half years later, it just doesn't make sense to me.
"If you are asking me to sentence on the basis that it was found hanging around as a left over from the business I would need evidence of it."
Crown prosecutor John Ransom said the State was happy to proceed on the basis that the abalone was of unknown origin.
After taking further instructions Mr O' Halloran withdrew the submission.
Mr Murphy was a Labor Senator from 1993 to 2005 and had no prior offences apart from a $30 fine for taking partly protected wildlife, a black duck, in 1981.
Mr O'Halloran clarified that Mr Muphy was charged over possession of a feather from the black duck.
Defence counsel for Ms Liu, Kim Baumeler, said her client had a fleeting role amounting to the transport of the consignment to the depot.
She submitted the special penalty, equivalent to the value of the abalone, was sufficient.
Justice Pearce said a penalty on top of the special penalty was possible under the Act.
Mr Ransom said that Ms Liu had a subsequent offence under the Act for selling rock lobster in 2016.
Justice Pearce adjourned sentencing until Friday, July 2 at 2.15pm.
.