Salim Mehajer, the former deputy mayor of the Sydney suburb of Auburn, has been found guilty of assaulting a female television reporter who was attempting to interview him.
Mehajer had denied assaulting reporter Laura Banks in April 2017 when he slammed a car door on her arm as he left a police station in Sydney’s CBD following his arrest over a separate alleged assault.
Finding the 31-year-old guilty, magistrate Joanne Keogh told Downing centre local court on Friday that Mehajer was reckless to the risk of harm when he closed the door.
The assault on the Seven Network reporter happened as she tried to interview him following his arrest over separate allegations he assaulted a taxi driver outside the Star casino.
“Is this rock bottom, Salim?” Banks asked him in footage played to the court on Monday. The video shows Mehajer initially trying to flee in a taxi but the driver then refuses to take him when reporters detail his alleged crimes.
Banks and other reporters move in, attempting to interview him, and when a Porsche pulls up Mehajer invites Banks to “just jump in”. He then slammed the door on her arm.
During the case, Mehajer claimed he was being bullied during the incident. “Whichever way I turned, there was a camera,” Mehajer told the court.