A former New South Wales police officer has avoided jail after he was sentenced for giving false evidence in a case against his now wife.
Scott White, 40, was convicted of perjury last year after he lied about using condoms in his relationship with Sarah-Jane Parkinson.
Parkinson was convicted of falsely accusing her former partner, a prison guard at Canberra's jail, of raping her.
He spent several months in an interstate prison until the charges were dropped.
Parkinson was jailed for more than three years after she eventually pleaded guilty.
The use of condoms were material to her claim that she had been raped.
White said the couple never used condoms because he had had a vasectomy, but he had previously told another officer the couple used them occasionally.
The issue assumed importance because police had found a condom in Parkinson's yard and she claimed it was used in the alleged rape.
Prosecutor Anthony Williamson told the ACT Supreme Court the question about condoms would have been of no surprise to White, as another officer had quizzed him about it.
"[White] was on notice that it was a live issue and something which might be explored by the parties during that hearing," Mr Williamson said.
"He would have … turned his mind to what he would say if he was asked questions in relation to this issue.
Justice Michael Elkaim agreed, saying if White had thought carefully about his answers to police he would have known he should have responded differently.
Prosecution, victim's family argue for jail sentence
The court also heard a victim impact statement from the mother of Parkinson's falsely accused former partner, who said the case had ripped her family apart and curtailed her career.
Mr Williamson said the crime was all the more serious because White was a police officer.
He urged the court to jail him, even providing a statement from ACT Corrective Services Commissioner Jon Peach that he would be safe in jail despite being a former police officer.
But White's lawyer John Purnell expressed concern that there were people in Canberra's prison with whom White had had dealings and he would be unsafe.
Justice Elkaim agreed, saying he found the commissioner's reassurance difficult to accept, and suggested prisoners would learn quickly on the grapevine that White had been a police officer.
He told the court he was satisfied that the act of perjury was a one-off, and noted the police force had sacked him.
White was given an 18-month suspended sentence, with a two-year good behaviour order.
