"Fake podiatrist" to serve two-year jail sentence in the community following appeal

Following an appeal hearing, a Sydney man who conducted more than 600 “bogus consultations” as a podiatrist will now serve his two-year jail sentence in the community, Ahpra said.

The man’s original two-year sentence was confirmed and the Acting Judge described the offences as very serious, but the jail term was converted to a Community Corrections Order, Ahpra added.

The man had never been a registered podiatrist and, according to Ahpra, “almost all of his patients were extremely vulnerable”.

The man had been sentenced to two years’ jail in May this year, after he pleaded guilty to 16 charges brought by Ahpra.

It was the most significant sentence imposed on a person from an Ahpra prosecution, and only the second jail term imposed since the National Scheme was established in 2010.

The appeal was heard on 15 July. Acting Judge Antony Townsden in the Sydney District Court confirmed the original sentence of two years’ imprisonment but ordered it to be served in the community by way of an Intensive Corrections Order (ICO).

Acknowledging the National Law’s important public protection objectives, Townsden added that an ICO would better support the man’s rehabilitation and address his risk of reoffending than a sentence of full-time custody.

Under NSW law, an ICO is a form of imprisonment, with the sentence served in the community under strict court-imposed conditions rather than in a correctional facility.

The man’s ICO includes conditions that he be supervised by Community Corrections Officers and complete 200 hours of community service work.

The man was also ordered to pay Ahpra’s costs of $37,000.

You can read more about the case and the original sentence here.

Image credit: iStock.com/Adene Sanchez