Steve Vizard delivered his apology well at Melbourne Airport last Saturday and today’s version, which was read to the court by his lawyer, James Judd QC, was a similar but expanded version.

It opened with the now all too familiar line, “I am deeply sorry.”

“I failed in my duty as a director, let my fellow directors down” and seriously contravened the law, it continued, and for this: “I make no excuses,” he said.

“I made a fundamental error of judgment at the outset” and improperly used information confidential to Telstra.” Vizard said he had since “tried to explain” to family, friends and associates “how I got into this mess,” and that he had “lost sight” of his duties.

Nevertheless, a contrite Vizard said he had learned from the experience that the duties of a company director are “absolutely paramount.”

“I know what I did was wrong,” continued the statement, and “I’m deeply conscious” of the fact that I have let my family, fellow directors and the community down. And “as much as the law will let me,” he said, ” I will spend the remainder of my life trying to make it up.”

All up, the tone was one of contrition and he did stress the importance of a director’s duties.

“I lost sight of the very important distinction between by duties as a director and my own interests.”

Too right, he did.