More than seven years after Richard Boyle's suburban Adelaide home was raided by a team of Australian Federal Police officers, he finally has closure.
The public servant turned whistleblower avoided any conviction and a jail sentence this morningafter striking a plea deal earlier this year, and admitting allegations of disclosing protected information to another entity, making a record of protected information, using a listening device to record a private conversation and recording another person's tax file number.
Judge Liesl Kudelka instead ordered Mr Boyle be subject to a year-long good behaviour bond for the offending.
The lengthy legal process began after the then-Australian Taxation Office debt collector internally raised concerns about heavy-handed tactics within the tax office in 2017, before going public on the ABC's Four Corners with those allegations in 2018.
His decision to reveal unethical practices within the ATO — where he had worked for 14 years — wreaked havoc on his life, and the life of his wife, Louise Beaston.
Last year, he spoke at the Walkley Awards, telling the audience he was "broken, physically, mentally and financially".
Here's how the case unfolded since AFP officers arrived at his door in April 2018.
Still in his red dressing gown, Mr Boyle heard a knock on the door of his rental unit in Edwardstown, south of the Adelaide CBD, at about 8am.
Four AFP officers accompanied by an ATO investigator began raiding his home.
Mr...
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