HEFTY JAIL TERM FOR LAWYER

Disgraced Melbourne lawyer Andrew Fraser was sentenced yesterday to seven
years' jail for helping a drug dealer import cocaine worth up to $2.7
million from Africa.

Fraser, whom Judge Leo Hart branded "dishonourable and disgraceful", will
serve a minimum of five years before being eligible for parole.

A stunned Fraser gripped the railing of the dock as Judge Hart sentenced
him on charges of drug trafficking and possession, and being knowingly
concerned in the importation of 5.5 kilograms of cocaine.

In a packed hearing before Fraser's family, friends and members of
Melbourne's legal profession, Judge Hart denounced Fraser's criminal
behaviour and told him that the seriousness of each offence was aggravated
by the fact that he was a practising solicitor at the time.

"You had bound yourself by oath to uphold the law and to conduct yourself
honestly," Judge Hart said. "To behave in the illegal, dishonourable and
disgraceful way that you did ... involves a degree of public scandal, which
reflects on the profession as a whole."

Such conduct warranted a sentence that would act as a deterrent to others,
including lawyers who might be tempted to commit such crimes, the judge said.

"A legal practitioner must not succumb to such temptations," he said. "A
legal practitioner must not cross that line."

The court heard that in August, 1999, Fraser helped a former client, Werner
Paul Roberts, in a scheme to smuggle high-grade cocaine from Benin, West
Africa.

Roberts was the lawyer's cocaine dealer at the time, and in a damning,
drug-fuelled conversation recorded by police, Fraser was heard counselling
him on ways to avoid suspicion during the importation trip.

He also agreed to be the "legal backstop" if things did not go according to
plan, and along with Roberts' wife, Andrea Mohr, and long-time friend Carl
Heinze Urbanec formed a "support crew" to the scheme.

The conversation - which took place in Fraser's city law office the day
before Roberts left the country to buy the cocaine - also revealed that he
knew of Roberts' plan to use a former girlfriend as the unwitting "mule"
who could carry the drugs through customs, and who would, if necessary,
take the fall.

The court heard that for months before the meeting, Fraser had also been
trafficking cocaine to former prominent psychologist Tim Watson-Munro.

In his sentencing remarks, Judge Hart said that Fraser was "a hardened
user" of cocaine, and rejected submissions by his defence counsel that he
was so "off his face" at the time of his conversation with Roberts that his
judgment was severely impaired.

While he accepted that Fraser had freely given time to probono and
community work, Judge Hart questioned his previous good reputation."For the
last 12 to 13 years you have not had a good character at all," he said. "On
your own admission, you have been breaking the law with increasing
frequency by possessing and using cocaine."

Roberts, 54, who was found guilty by a jury of the importation, was
sentenced to 13 years, with a minimum of 10; Mohr, 38, was sentenced to
eight years with a minimum of five; and Urbanec, 46, received nine years
with a minimum of six.

Outside court, Fraser's barrister, Con Heliotis, QC - who earlier urged
Judge Hart to impose a "short, sharp" minimum term of six to 12 months -
said he was "shocked" by the sentence.

But Detective Superintendent David Newton said the decision sent a strong
message to others who might be involved in similar activities.