A Canberra judge has signalled he would impose a tough jail sentence on a child sex offender who hatched a jailhouse plot to silence two witnesses in a bid to dodge prosecution.
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Justice John Burns on Wednesday said a light sentence would not discourage others from gambling on attempts to beat criminal charges.
The judge made the comments during Aaron James Holliday's ACT Supreme Court sentence hearing for attempting to pervert the course of justice, and two counts of inciting kidnap.
Holliday planned to use $7000, a car, and his computer skills as down payment for the kidnapping to ensure two teenagers could not testify against him in court.
The plot included having the witnesses read scripts withdrawing their statements on video in the hope it would help clear his name.
A police raid on his cell in July 2010 uncovered documents that outlined the plan and scripts for the teenagers to read.
But Holliday fought the charges, claiming another inmate had originally penned one of the documents, and that others were a work of fiction he had been writing.
He told his Supreme Court trial that another inmate had approached him and offered to help him beat the charges.
At the time, Holliday was in jail awaiting trial on allegations he abused three boys, aged 12 to 15, whom he befriended between 2006 and 2009.
He was subsequently found guilty of those offences and sentenced to eight years jail.
The offender would have been eligible for parole last year if not for the current offences.
His barrister, Ray Livingston, acknowledged a jail sentence would be appropriate for the offences, but also took issue with the length of time it took to prosecute the case.
The defence lawyer argued his client had now spent six years in jail awaiting prosecution and sentence on the charges bordered on crushing.
Mr Livingston said neither of the witnesses had been in danger as the other inmate immediately reported the plot to authorities.
The defence also said Holliday had completed a number of rehabilitative programs.
Prosecutor Shane Drumgold said the charge struck at the heart of the justice system and urged a strong sentence as a statement to those who would "gamble" on attempt to pervert the course of justice.
Mr Drumgold also needed to send a message to offenders that targeting victims would not be tolerated.
Justice Burns will hand down his sentence on a yet to be determined date.
