Sir Ron Brierley expected to plead not guilty to child abuse charges

Millionaire businessman and former corporate raider Sir Ron Brierley is expected to plead not guilty to charges of possessing hundreds of thousands of child abuse images and videos.

A frail-looking Sir Ron appeared at the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney, Australia, on Monday using a cane for his first court appearance, less than two months after he was arrested at Sydney International Airport.

The 82-year-old was detained by Australian Border Force officials attempting to board an early morning flight from Sydney to Fiji in December, before detectives seized his carry-on bags, laptop and electronic storage units and allegedly discovered more than 200,000 images and 512 videos.

He was subsequently charged with six counts of possessing child exploitation material.

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On Monday Sir Ron’s defence lawyer Penny Musgrave told the court her client was intending to plead not guilty to the charges against him, however she said a plea was yet to be formally entered.

The matter returns to court on April 2, when Sir Ron has been excused from attending.

The investigation into the recently retired corporate titan was prompted by an anonymous tip to New South Wales (NSW) Police in early August last year. His airport arrest four months later came after a travel alert was issued by NSW Police.

He has since been on strict conditional bail which requires him to live at his Point Piper mansion.

Sir Ron made his reputation in Australia and his native New Zealand targeting poorly run and undervalued companies.

He was worth nearly A$200 million as far back as the late 1980s and was widely considered one of the most admired and feared corporate raiders ever operating in Australia.

Born and raised in Wellington, Sir Ron had already made his mark in New Zealand business circles when he emigrated to Australia in the 1980s. By 1988 he had been knighted for his “services to business management and the community”.

In December 2015, Sir Ron, through his new company, Mercantile Investment, launched a hostile takeover of Australian shipping company Richfield International.

Late last year, he spearheaded a bid, through Mercantile, for Mark Bouris’ Yellow Brick Road. Bouris rejected the bid as “grossly inadequate”.

He stepped down from Mercantile in June, citing “age and ill health”.