South West man ‘guilty with an excuse’ after not telling police phone passcode he ‘could not remember’

A South West man has caused confusion in the Busselton courthouse after pleading “guilty with an excuse” for failing to provide police with the passcode to his phone because he says he “could not remember” it. Marshall Daniel Fairhead, 38, appeared via video link from Bunbury Regional Prison in Busselton Magistrate Court on Tuesday. Fairhead indicated to Magistrate Tony Sullivan he had been advised by his lawyer — who was not present — to plead guilty to one count of having being served with a data access order and failing to obey it. When entering the plea, however, Fairhead responded with “guilty with an excuse”, and explained he had not complied because he was in prison and “could not remember the code”. Police Prosecutor Sgt Jane Gillham said Fairhead had been arrested in College Grove on November 6 on several charges currently before the District Court. After his arrest, police confiscated his phone and made an access order for Fairhead to tell them the code to unlock it. Sgt Gillham said police had concerns over his statement as they had reason to believe Fairhead was contacting people from prison asking them to wipe the contents of the phone. Magistrate Tony Sullivan explained by pleading guilty to the charge, Fairhead would need to accept all the given facts and not give any excuses. Fairhead agreed, telling the court he wanted to “get it over with” and not cause delays to his District Court hearing. Fairhead was fined $5000 and is next due to appear in court for a trial listing in Bunbury District Court on June 12.