The woman at the centre of the Tim Paine sexting saga has sacked her lawyer and told a Hobart court she will be maintaining her plea of not guilty in relation to stealing charges, moments before the magistrate said he was ready to sentence her.
Renee Ferguson worked as a receptionist at Cricket Tasmania's Bellerive Oval headquarters between 2015 and 2017.
Ms Ferguson, 48, initially pleaded not guilty to dozens of counts of stealing and two counts of dishonestly acquiring a financial advantage.
The alleged offending related to stealing more than $5000 in cash and cricket memberships from the sporting body in 2017.
In April, Deputy Chief Magistrate Michael Daly indicated Ms Ferguson would receive a penalty of 10 months in home detention if she were to change her plea to guilty, taking into account that when the alleged offending occurred, Ms Ferguson breached a suspended sentence for stealing $30,000 from a previous employer.
Ms Ferguson was given less than a week to accept the sentence indication.
Meanwhile, Community Corrections was ordered to assess her suitability for home detention.
Today, about three months after her last court appearance, Ms Ferguson's lawyer Greg Barns appeared before the court as a "courtesy" to inform it he was no longer acting for her.
Ms Ferguson, who has been living in regional Victoria, then appeared in the court from her car on video link.
Despite not being in the state, Deputy Chief Magistrate Daly said he was ready to sentence her.
"I'll sentence you in light of the indication that you accepted," he said.
Before he could get any further, Ms Ferguson informed the court she would be maintaining a plea of not guilty and was looking to appoint new legal representation.
Deputy Chief Magistrate Daly told her he was only prepared to adjourn the case "for a couple of days", eventually settling on Friday next week.
"You'll be required to be in the state on that day," he told Ms Ferguson.
"I'm not prepared to deal remotely. You'll need to fully engage with the procedures of this court from now on. We will require your attendance."
He told Ms Ferguson she had better find new representation as soon as possible and he expected them to be fully briefed and available by the next court date.
"There's a lot of work to get you fully engaged, tried and dealt with," he said.
"This case hasn't gone back to square one. You need to appreciate the reality of your position at present.
"This case now needs to be listed and gotten ready for trial."
Former Australian test cricket captain Tim Paine stood down last November after sexting exchanges with Ms Ferguson came to light.
