Final nail in the coffin for embattled Icebergs boss Maurice Terzini after his son was accused of sexual assault
The celebrity restaurateur, 60, stood down from his position in March after sexual assault claims were levelled against his 32-year-old son, Sylvester.
'Maurice Terzini has agreed to resign as a director of the Icebergs Dining Room and Bar business, and has stood down from any involvement in the business as we conduct an independent review of the issues raised in the SMH reports,' a spokesman for the Icebergs group said in a statement.
'That review is underway.'
Maurice and Sylvester Terzini have both denied the accusations that were first reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.
Despite stepping down as a director, Mr Terzini continued as a shareholder of Icebergs until it was revealed on Monday that his 120 shares had been sold.
Mr Terzini declined to comment when contacted by Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday.
This publication has reached out to the companies for comment.
When allegations from nine women against Sylvester Terzini emerged in March, his father shared a statement on Instagram about the impact the claims had on his family.
None of the allegations were alleged to have occurred at the restaurant venues.
'Allegations that have been made about one of my family members are devastating claims that have no place in our venues, industry or society,' he said.
'There are private health matters concerning one of my family members, where professional counsel has been sought.
'As a father, my priority has always been my children.'
Mr Terzini said that, given his profile in the hospitality industry, he had become collateral damage.
'The allegations are not ones against me directly yet the inferences have been hurtful and damaging to my reputation,' he continued.
'The spotlight on me, and that which comes from running one of the most recognised restaurants in the world, carries with it an obligation to ensure that I communicate truthfully with my much-loved industry and the community.'
Icebergs Dining Room and Bar (pictured) launched in investigation into the allegations in March
Mr Terzini also denied claims made by the Sydney Morning Herald that he knew about the complains made against his son.
On Sunday, Mr Terzini's ex-wife and jewellery designer Emma Addams claimed that he had been aware of sexual assault allegations against his son.
'Yes, he was aware of sexual allegations against Sylvester,' she told Channel Nine's 60 Minutes program.
In 2023, less than a year after their extravagant wedding in Bondi, Mr Terzini and Ms Addams parted ways.
The pair had celebrated their nuptials at the Bondi Icebergs venue, which Mr Terzini described as his 'spiritual home', surrounded by their closest family and friends.
In response to Ms Addams' claims, Mr Terzini's lawyers told the network 'he cannot recall any such warning' about his son's behaviour in his restaurants.
'Our client cannot be expected to review all of his records and recall every conversation he has ever had about his son,' they said.
'One person made allegations against Sylvester that were tested in court, were found to be unreliable and contradictory, and resulted in the dismissal of the charge subject of the allegations.
'Our client has been in business more than 35 years and is, on any view, one of Australia's most successful restaurateurs.'
Coming from working-class migrants, Mr Terzini founded Icebergs and has been the driving force behind its success. His other business ventures continue to operate.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Hundreds of children to be tested for disease after childcare centre rape charges
The parents of 1,200 children in Australia are being urged to get them tested for infectious diseases after a childcare worker was charged with 70 sex offences including child rape. Joshua Dale Brown, 26, is accused of abusing eight children under the age of two, including a five-month-old baby, at a childcare centre in Melbourne between April 2022 and January 2023. Police have not ruled out that Mr Brown, who has worked at 19 other childcare centres over the past eight years, could have preyed on more alleged victims. Officers arrested him at his home in Melbourne on May 12 after uncovering evidence of child abuse material. The charges he faces include sexual penetration of a child under 12, attempted sexual penetration of a child under 12, sexual assault of a child under 16 and producing child abuse material for use through a carriage service. Janet Stevenson, the Victoria Police acting commander, said it had taken the 'unusual decision' to lift the suppression order on Mr Brown's name so that parents could check whether he would have come into contact with their child. Health authorities have contacted 2,600 families and have recommended the testing for 1,200 children who may have come into contact with him as a precaution. A website listing the centres at which Mr Brown worked and the known employment dates has been set up by the government, as well as a dedicated hotline for families. The eight children who police allege were abused by Mr Brown were all under the age of two and attended one childcare centre in a suburb of Melbourne. Dr Christian McGrath, the chief health officer in Victoria, did not disclose whether the suspect had tested positive for sexually transmitted infections, but said the manner of the alleged offending meant some children may be asked to undergo screening for infectious diseases. He said: 'This is another distressing element to the situation, and we're taking this approach as a precaution. We do believe it's a low risk, but we want to offer this to provide assurance to the parents about the health and well-being of their children.' Detectives are also investigating alleged offences at a childcare centre in Essendon, another Melbourne suburb, 'as a priority'. Police believe Mr Brown had acted alone and that the offending was confined to Victoria. He was not known to police beforehand, and his alleged offending was only uncovered because of a proactive investigation and not a tip-off or complaint. Mr Brown is yet to enter a plea to the charges and has been remanded in custody. He is due to appear at Melbourne magistrates' court on September 15. Jacinta Allan, the premier of Victoria, said she was 'sickened' by the allegations, adding: 'My heart breaks for the families who are living every parent's worst nightmare.'
BreakingNews.ie
3 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Child sexual abuse trial of mother, uncle and family friend continues
A woman has denied a suggestion from her uncle's legal team that she has imagined being raped by him as a child. The woman alleges she was raped by her uncle on several occasions, including one incident of oral rape. She also says she was sexually assaulted by her mother multiple times and orally raped by a family friend. Advertisement The complainant's mother, her uncle, and another man face a total of 21 counts of sexual assault and rape, which allegedly occurred on dates between 2000 and 2014, mainly at the family home within the State. The three defendants cannot be named for legal reasons. They deny wrongdoing and have pleaded not guilty to all charges. The complainant's maternal uncle, who is in his 40s, has pleaded not guilty to five counts of rape and one of oral rape on dates between 2003 and 2012, all at the same family home In direct evidence, she said she was about five-and-a-half when her uncle first raped her in his bedroom. She said her mother left the room, returning with her uncle who then raped her. She said her mother then brought her to their bedroom. Advertisement Cross-examining the complainant on Tuesday, Michael Lynn SC, representing her uncle, said his client's position is that 'none of these allegations ever occurred' and 'this is something you've imagined'. 'I didn't imagine it,' she replied. 'He's adamant none of this ever happened,' Mr Lynn continued. 'It did happen,' she replied. Advertisement The complainant also said she had blocked out memories, but they started to come back. She said she wasn't able to deal with them and went to the Rape Crisis Centre for counselling in mid-2019. She agreed with Mr Lynn that a counselling note from 2016 states that memories were flooding back and she was unsure if they were real or not. Mr Lynn suggested that this may still be the case – that her memories are not real. 'They are,' the complainant replied. The complainant told Mr Lynn that she could not remember what she was wearing that day or if her uncle said anything to her. She agreed with Mr Lynn that she didn't question what had happened. Advertisement She also gave direct evidence that her uncle orally raped her in his bedroom on another occasion. She told Mr Lynn that she believed she was eight at the time, but accepted that this was a feeling and she could not tie it to any event. She also accepted that she did not make any allegations of a sexual nature when she spoke to gardai in 2015 about a separate matter. The complainant said she was frightened at that time and had been encouraged not to trust gardai. Mr Lynn took the complainant through a letter she wrote in 2019. She said she didn't remember writing it, but accepted she had. He noted this letter states the complainant knew she had been abused by her mother and other males, but could not remember any details about them. Advertisement Mr Lynn suggested that this was inconsistent with her evidence that her memories of abuse by her uncle started to return in late 2018. She said she was 'struggling' with memories, and that it was 'bad enough with what [her mother] had done, remembering what [her uncle] had done was equally difficult to deal with'. She said at the time she wrote this letter, she was trying to 'deal with what was going on' and started attending counselling afterwards. She said 'things became easier to process and much clearer'. Mr Lynn also asked the complainant about counselling records referring to two female family friends. Earlier in the trial, she said she moved in with them when she was 17, and lived with them again during the second Covid-19 lockdown, before cutting off contact. Mr Lynn put to her that it was not credible that she could not explain why things had turned 'toxic' between her and these two female family friends. She said she could not explain how things had turned out as they had. Referring to her counselling records, Mr Lynn asked her if these female family friends 'imposed false memories' on her. The complainant said they told her she had done things she hadn't, and insisted that any references to false memories were about her relationship with these two women. The witness said in her direct evidence that she saw her mother and uncle engage in sex with each other while she was present in a room when she was around six. On Monday, counsel for her mother, Desmond Dockery SC, suggested to the complainant it was implausible if it happened that she would have known what was going on. Mr Lynn put it to the complainant on Tuesday that she had previously said she was four when she saw this. 'Okay, I made a mistake,' she replied. The complainant was also cross-examined by Damien Colgan SC, representing the second man. This man, aged in his 50s, has pleaded not guilty to one count of oral rape between 2008 and 2009 at the same address. The jury has heard he was a friend of the accused woman's then partner. In her direct evidence, the complainant said when she was 13, that he came into a the room where she was playing on a PlayStation, then locked the door. She said this man orally raped her, during which he told her 'Your mother knows'. She said she left the room afterwards and didn't tell anyone what had happened. Mr Colgan put it to her that she told gardai that she was 11 when this allegedly happened. She said she was mistaken, got confused and thought she was older than she was. She agreed with Mr Colgan this was a 'big mistake' to make, adding 'he still raped me'. Mr Colgan asked the complainant if she told her mother or her mother's partner about the alleged oral rape by this man. She said she didn't tell anyone. She said the man continued to visit the house and that she didn't remember any similar incidents occurring before or after this. The complainant's mother, who is in her 50s, has pleaded not guilty to 13 counts of sexual assault on dates between 2000 and 2009, and between 2012 and 2014, primarily at the family home. She also pleaded not guilty to one count of rape, in that she facilitated the rape of the complainant by her uncle. The trial at the Central Criminal Court continues. If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800 77 8888 , access text service and webchat options at or visit Rape Crisis Help
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Priest who wore Robert De Niro's robes from film The Mission sexually assaulted a 'staggering' number of women in congregation, court hears
A church leader abused his position to sexually assault a 'staggering' number of women in his congregation, a court heard. Christopher Brain led the evangelical Nine O'Clock Service (NOS) and had such a hold over the Church of England that it was arranged for him to wear Robert De Niro 's robes from the film The Mission at his ordination. The 68-year-old, who ran the service in Sheffield between 1986 and 1995, had a team of young women dressed in lingerie, referred to as the 'Lycra Nuns,' tend to his needs at home, jurors heard. His organisation became a cult whose members were encouraged to separate themselves from loved ones and became dependant on Brain, Tim Clark KC, prosecuting, said. He then sexually assaulted a number of them, including one woman just hours after she had spent helping relatives identify the bodies of loved ones killed in the Hillsborough tragedy, he added. Brain, from Wilmslow, Cheshire, is accused of one count of rape and 36 counts of indecent assault between 1981 and 1995 against 13 women. Opening his trial at Inner London Crown Court, Mr Clark said NOS presented itself to the outside world as a progressive force for good. 'In truth NOS became a closed and controlled group which the defendant dominated and abused his position first as a leader and then as an ordained priest to sexually assault a staggering number of women from his congregation,' he added. The church initially viewed NOS as a success story and fast-tracked Brain's ordination in 1991 despite concerns from his own personal tutor, the court heard. 'At his ordination, signs of grandiose self-regard were already present,' Mr Clark said. 'Large sums of money were spent finding the robes worn by the actor Robert De Niro in the movie 'The Mission' for the defendant to wear at his ordination.' Bishop Stephen Lowe, a senior member of the Church of England at the time, voiced concerns to the then Bishop of Sheffield after he was told that Brain had a rota of woman who helped 'put him to bed' – an exercise which allegedly involved sexual favours. There was then a confrontation in which Brain was told it was believed he had abused up to 40 women, the court heard. Mr Clark said Brain replied: 'I thought it was more.' Some members of the congregation were persuaded to give up their inheritance, their jobs and their homes, the court heard. 'They were encouraged to give up their time, finances and, eventually, their sense of self to this organisation and its leader,' Mr Clark said. Brain set up a 'homebase team' also known as the 'Lycra Lovelies' or 'Lycra Nuns' to care for him at home and massage him before he went to sleep, jurors were told. 'They were noted to be wearing lingerie or otherwise revealing clothing whilst apparently employed to look after the needs of the defendant,' Mr Clark said. TV programmes were made and books written about NOS after allegations were made in 1995 around Brain's behaviour, the court heard. Brain appeared in one of the documentaries and made admissions to the filmmaker of sexual contact with a number of the female members of NOS, jurors were told. 'It is the Crown's case that the women named on the indictment who were involved in sexual acts with the defendant did not consent to those acts,' Mr Clark said. 'Any capacity they had to consent had been removed by the domineering nature of the defendant, by his control over their entire lives and by their absolute terror of being ostracised and that's what he intended.' The court heard Brain accepts he engaged in sexual activity with some of the complainants but that it was consensual. The prosecutor said: 'In short, the defence case appears to be, to quote from the Life Of Brian, Brian Cohen's mother: 'He's not the Messiah, he's just a very naughty boy'. 'The Crown state it was more than that, the defendant created the atmosphere that allowed him to abuse a series of women.' One complainant, whose top was taken off by Brain when she was upset, was told she would be failing as a Christian if she failed to submit to him, the court heard. Another woman told police that she returned home at 6am after helping relatives at the mortuary immediately after the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. 'She said the defendant came to her house and climbed into her bed, he started touching her and praising her whilst they lay still,' Mr Clark said. 'She can't now remember where he touched her but all she could remember was his hands being all over her. She had not she said consented to this happening.' Brain denies the 37 charges against him and the trial continues.
