Prosecutors pursuing the activist who temporarily wiped hundreds of millions of dollars off listed mining company Whitehaven's value by issuing a fake press release won't be seeking a jail term.
Activist Jonathan Moylan had previously pleaded guilty to one count of disseminating false or misleading information affecting market participation, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years' jail or a $765,000 fine.
But crown prosecutor David Staehli SC said he wouldn't be asking Justice David Davies to impose a jail term.
"We do not press for him to serve any time in custody," he told the NSW Supreme Court.
The 26-year-old from Newcastle issued a press release in 2013 claiming ANZ Bank had withdrawn a $1.2 billion loan from Whitehaven's flagship Maules Creek open-cut coalmine on ethical grounds.
The media release bore the ANZ logo and the hoax temporarily wiped $314 million from the mining company's share price.
Moylan has been supported through his legal battle by environmentalist groups that claim the Maules Creek project in northwestern NSW will force farmers off their land and contaminate water.
About 150 of his supporters were outside the courtroom on Friday holding "No prison for protesters #standwithjono" signs.
Mr Staehli said the lengths Moylan went to in preparing the fake media release showed "extensive planning and premeditation".
But Moylan's barrister Robert Sutherland SC said his client had never intended for investors to lose money and that he was surprised that a number of journalists had treated the release as real.
Mr Sutherland blasted media outlets that ran the story without making "rudimentary" checks to see if it was in fact genuine.
Any journalists "worth their salt" would've checked the release with the Australian stock exchange website, he told the court.
Media outlets that published the story, more than Moylan himself, "ought to be held accountable" for the impact the hoax release had on the share market, Mr Sutherland said.
The barrister also presented a letter signed by Moylan apologising to people who had lost money as a result of his actions.
The letter said Moylan only intended to generate publicity about ANZ's connection to the mine and that shareholders who lost money had "every right to feel deceived and angry".
He also apologised to people who had their retirement savings affected.
The hearing continues.
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