EINFEILD HAS A LAUGH

FREE EINFELD FINALLY HAS A LAUGH

(Sunday Telegraph March 20^th 2011) By: Rosie Squires.

A smiling Marcus Einfeld walked out of Silverwater jail yesterday, chastened but with plans to return to public life.

For the first time since he was sentenced to two years in prison for making false statements over a $77 speeding fine, the former Federal Court Judge said he was sorry.

I have certainly learned a very painful lesson, Einfeld, 72, said. I want to thank my family and my many friends for supporting me during the worst period of my life.

I am desperately sorry for letting them and the community down so badly.

Wearing a pinstriped suit and a tie and 10kg lighter than when he was jailed, Einfeld joked with the media scrum outside the minimum-security section of Silverwater prison.

This is not my most beautiful, he said with a laugh. All the guys have been trying to give me stuff to beautify myself up.

Einfeld, who was refused private treatment by a chiropractor and a masseuse while in prison, received a record number of visitors during his incarceration.

He was stripped of his QC and Order of Australia titles after lying under oath.

He claimed a friend, Teresa Brennan, had been driving his Lexus when it was detected speeding in 2006, but it was later discovered Ms Bennan had died three years earlier.

Despite the humiliation, Einfeld said he was determined to return to public life by campaigning for prison reform and helping male inmates who suffered from depression.