Justin Dion Appleton, 39, was sentenced on Tuesday to four years in prison with a two-year non-parole period for stealing nearly $40,000 from Flight Centre. Chief Justice Lucy McCallum of the ACT Supreme Court described his five-year campaign of dishonesty as self-sabotage that only sharpened the sword of Damocles over his own head.
Appleton provided numerous false medical certificates, lied under oath, and submitted fake documents from hospitals and doctors to delay sentencing. He also made an unfounded allegation against his lawyer last week in an apparent attempt to defer the hearing.
The court issued an arrest warrant earlier this year after Appleton failed to appear for sentencing three times. He was extradited from South Australia in August and taken into custody in Canberra.
Chief Justice McCallum noted that Appleton's guilty pleas did not earn him a sentence discount due to his repeated lies. She said his actions prolonged his anxiety and exposed him to greater punishment.
Appleton's crimes included skimming cash while working at Flight Centre in 2019 and breaking into the building after resigning in 2020 to steal more money. The judge linked his offending to a gambling addiction, described as a form of escape from past trauma.
