Chris Dawson released on bail after being charged with wife’s murder

The husband of Lynette Dawson, a Sydney woman whose disappearance has been the subject of a popular crime podcast, has been released on bail after his arrest for her alleged murder.

The 70-year-old former Austrailian rugby player denies killing his wife, saying that she abandoned the family for a religious group in 1982.

The story of her disappearance is told in Australian podcast The Teacher's Pet, which secured a global following.

Chris Dawson was greeted by a media throng upon exiting jail on Monday.

He posted A$1.5m (£850,000; $1.05m) bail and will return to his family home in the state of Queensland, where he will have to surrender his passport and report daily to authorities.

Police arrested the former high school teacher on 5 December, following a three-year re-investigation of the cold case.

Dawson intends to plead not guilty to killing his wife, who was 33 when she disappeared from Sydney’s northern beaches. Her body has never been found.

Dawson’s arrest followed the re-examination of Lynette Dawson’s disappearance in the global podcast phenomenon the Teacher’s Pet.

The podcast, which was created by the News Corp-owned Australian newspaper and which has been downloaded more than 25 million times around the world, uncovered fresh witnesses that police say helped lead to his arrest.

No trace of Dawson has ever been found since she vanished from the couple's Sydney home 36 years ago

Her husband had been having an affair with the family's babysitter, one of his students, at the time of her disappearance, an inquest in 2003 found.

That inquest and another also concluded that she was killed by a "known person". However, prosecutors at the time said they had insufficient evidence to press charges.

Dawson's lawyer told the newspaper his client would be "hugely relieved" to return home.

"He's very stoic and looking forward to being reunited with his family over Christmas," Greg Walsh said.