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Politics

Western Power employees sacked for backing rapist

ABC News
1 min read Rewritten in plain language

Sexual OffencesPoliticsState and Territory ParliamentGovernment and PoliticsWork

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  • Three Western Power workers who provided favourable character references for a colleague convicted of rape have been sacked by the state-owned utility.
  • Jeffrey David Spinner, 59, was sentenced to five years in June after taking the victim to his hotel room when she was heavily intoxicated and sexually assaulting her.
  • The utility said it had commissioned an independent cultural review that was "currently underway".

3 sentences from our version of the report, chosen to cover it. Nothing here is written; every line is in the article below. How

Three Western Power workers who provided favourable character references for a colleague convicted of rape have been sacked by the state-owned utility.

The report’s most important sentence, shortened and in plain words. How

Headline check

The one thing this headline claims is in the report.

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Three Western Power workers who provided favourable character references for a colleague convicted of rape have been sacked by the state-owned utility.

In August, the three workers were stood down after relevations they provided character references for a senior manager, who was jailed for raping a female colleague on a 2024 work trip.

Jeffrey David Spinner, 59, was sentenced to five years in June after taking the victim to his hotel room when she was heavily intoxicated and sexually assaulting her.

Court transcripts included eight positive character references from his colleagues which the judge said showed the rape was "out of character" for Spinner.

The utility said it had commissioned an independent cultural review that was "currently underway".

Shortened to 1 minute of reading, this version reads 5 on the Niral Score.

You are reading our version, not theirs. This is ABC News's report shortened to its most important sentences, in plainer words, with verdicts and loaded words taken out. Plain description stays, and so do adjectives that carry a fact, such as "former" or "federal". The reporting, the facts and the quotations are theirs — quotations are never edited — and the indicators beside it measure this version. Hover or tap Adjectives to see every one left in the text.

How this outlet filed it, and how we rewrote it

No other newsroom we read has filed on this event, so there is nothing to compare it with yet.

Outlet Niral ScoreAdjectivesSourcingSentimentHappiness
ABC Newsas they published this story 9.4 2 70 -0.2 19.5
Mundane Readneutralized from ABC News 8.6 2 70 -0.2 19.5

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