Aug 21, 2026 – 8.00pmNSW’s top appeal court has blasted an embattled judge for secret texts and LinkedIn messages to defence lawyers, who were arguing cases before the judge at the time, about what they planned to tell a parliamentary committee examining the judge’s public stoush with the state’s chief prosecutor.In a decision released on Friday, the Court of Criminal Appeal found that the messages and related phone calls were part of why District Court judge Penelope Wass had to be removed from hearing three pending prosecutions, two of them against alleged child sex offenders.Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Fetching latest articles