[Echoes]

A SYDNEY man who drugged a woman he met through a dating service so he could sexually assault her teenage daughter has been sentenced to a maximum 10 years in jail. Arthur Fairwell faced the NSW District Court today over the attack at Bradbury, in Sydney's south-west, in May 2004.

The 39-year-old had pleaded guilty to six offences, including aggravated sexual intercourse without consent and two counts of administering a stupefying drug. Fairwell met the 50-year-old woman through a telephone dating service. When he was invited to her home, he drugged her and her 13-year-old daughter with sedatives he had slipped into caramel custard, then sexually assaulted the girl.

Sentencing Fairwell today, Judge Helen Murrell said the girl was subjected to force and threats "which created a climate of terror". The judge said the offences had had a horrific effect on the mother and her daughter and would probably affect them all their lives. She reduced his sentence by 20 per cent in recognition of his guilty pleas and ordered him to serve at least six years of his jail term. With time already served Fairwell will be eligible for parole in 2010.

During sentencing submissions for Fairwell last week, the court was told he was under the delusional belief he was Ozzy Osborne, the heavy metal rocker turned reality TV star. When Fairwell learned of an allegation that Osborne had sex with a 13-year-old girl, his obsessive beliefs compelled him to think he had to follow suit, Judge Murrell heard.

The judge today said Fairwell had a long history of treatment for mental illness, and accepted psychiatric evidence that he suffered from a chronic paranoid schizophrenic disorder. However, there was no evidence to suggest he was delusional or psychotic at the time of the offences, she said.

[Dave. zzz....]

When I read the title, I'd assumed that the man had sexually assaulted Sharon Osbourne.

No such luck.