John Barilaro charged with assault and malicious damage
Former deputy NSW premier John Barilaro has been charged with assault and malicious damage over a clash with a cameraman in Manly.
The alleged assault took place between Barilaro and a cameraman in Manly about 7.30pm on Saturday, July 23. In the footage, Barilaro can be seen pushing the cameraman and his camera away from him before walking away and waiting at traffic lights to cross the road.
The former deputy premier told 2GB the following Monday morning that he had been “intruded on and harassed” since his controversial appointment to a $500,000-a-year trade commissioner post in New York became the subject of a parliamentary inquiry.
Barilaro was appointed but then quit, and has been the subject of a weeks-long inquiry into his appointment and the role he played in recruiting another trade envoy to London.
“To come out and have a camera shoved in your face. I’m a private citizen. I left politics last year … I was confronted in the dark out the front of a bar. If that was you, how would you respond? All I did was push a camera out of my way. I did not manhandle an individual,” he said.
In a Facebook post, lawyers Xenophon Davis said they would be acting for the cameraman allegedly assaulted by Barilaro.
“With a broken camera and injured back he hasn’t earned a dollar since,” the Facebook post said. “We will be seeking full compensation.”
NSW Police said that about 2pm Friday, officers attached to Northern Beaches Police Area Command served a court attendance notice on the 51-year-old’s lawyers for alleged assault and malicious damage offences.
Former deputy premier John Barilaro.Credit:Kate Geraghty
He is expected to appear at Manly Local Court on October 12.
More to come.
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