Latest news with #CrownProsecutor
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Taylor Swift tour at centre of allegations against Guy Sebastian's ex-manager
Guy Sebastian's former manager is alleged to have embezzled $187,000 earnt by the pop star for supporting Taylor Swift, leaving the Australian Idol winner to take home $23,000 from the tour, a court has been told. Titus Emanuel Day is standing trial in the NSW District Court where he has denied embezzling hundreds of thousands in royalties and performance fees from the pop star. The court has been told that Mr Day was Mr Sebastian's long-time manager – through his 6 Degrees agency – and friend before they had a bitter falling out in 2017. The Crown alleges that Mr Day failed to remit performance fees and royalties that were collected on Mr Sebastian's behalf by Mr Day. Mr Day has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of embezzlement as a clerk or servant and one count of attempting to dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception. On day two of his trial on Friday, his lawyers told the jury that Mr Day denied doing anything dishonest or fraudulent. One of the charges relates to an allegation that Mr Day failed to remit $187,000 to Mr Sebastian for performance fees as a support act for Swift on her 2013 tour of Australia. Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC told the court that the booking agent paid $494,000 – in the form of four payments of about $123,000 – into a 6 Degrees trust account following the four arena performances. According to the Crown case, Mr Day was entitled to a commission of $59,000 and Mr Sebastian should have been paid $435,000 according to the 80-20 split in his contract with 6 Degrees. However, Mr Hatfield told the jury, Mr Sebastian was only paid $247,500, leaving $187,500 unpaid. Mr Sebastian paid $179,000 to his band and for other expenses for the tour. 'You'll see effectively when you look at it that Mr Sebastian, of the $247,000 paid to him, he had already paid out of his own pocket $179,000,' Mr Hatfield said. 'Effectively he cleared $68,000 out of which he also had to pay GST of $45,000. 'So effectively he made about $23,000 for those four performances, while the accused retained about $246,000, whereas he should have been paid $59,000 as his commission.' It's alleged that Mr Sebastian was also not paid for corporate gigs, performances at the Opera House, a Big Bash game and Dreamworld and for singing at weddings in Italy and Sydney. The court was told that in 2018 he filed proceedings against Mr Day in the Federal Court that prompted his former manager and 6 Degrees to file a counterclaim Mr Sebastian took the stand before the lunch adjournment on Friday afternoon. He told the court that he first met Mr Day through the manager's wife, Courtney, whom he met via his record label. And three years after he won the inaugural Australian Idol, he agreed to join Mr Day, who was working at the 22 Management agency at the time. 'I was signed to Sony Music and one of the employees that I had a lot to do with on the recording side was Courtney Day,' Mr Sebastian told the court on Friday. 'And Courtney Day is married to Titus. And Courtney was recommending her husband as a manager.' The court has been told that in 2009, Mr Sebastian agreed to follow Mr Day when he opened his own agency, 6 Degrees. Mr Day's barrister Thomas Woods, in his opening remarks to the jury on Friday morning, said his client firmly denied doing anything criminal. 'There will be no dispute that on some occasions money did come into that account which my client should have transferred onto Mr Sebastian but did not,' Mr Woods said. 'For many of the charges, the real question is not going to be whether my client failed to transfer the money to Mr Sebastian but whether his failure to do that was criminal.' He said there was a 'major dispute' in the case about whether there was any fraud or dishonesty in Mr Day's actions. 'The background is the breakdown of a personal relationship … and a commercial relationship between the two men that went on for many years,' Mr Woods said. 'What was once a close friendship and business relationship turned sour. Both men claimed that the other owed him money.'
ABC News
3 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
Speeding drunk driver who crashed into former Greens MP Amy MacMahon's car spared jail
A speeding drunk driver who crashed into then-Greens MP Amy MacMahon and left her with traumatic injuries has been spared jail time. On Friday Rani Paige Lowry was sentenced in the Brisbane District Court a month after pleading guilty to dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing grievous bodily harm while being adversely affected by an intoxicating substance. She was handed a three-year sentence but was given immediate release on parole. During her sentencing hearing, the court heard the 27-year-old was almost four times over the legal alcohol limit when she was driving at Kangaroo Point in February 2024. At 6:30pm, she ran a red light and slammed into the former member for South Brisbane's car as it was turning at an intersection. Lowry, who was travelling 83 kilometres an hour in a 60kph zone when the two cars collided, did not engage her brakes at any time and had accelerated five seconds before the impact. Crown Prosecutor Luke Smoothy told the court Ms MacMahon suffered a traumatic head injury and spent more than two weeks in hospital, with some of that time in a coma. CCTV of the crash was played to the court showing Ms MacMahon's car being hit and spinning about 180 degrees, with other cars and pedestrians nearby. Lowry put her head down and wiped away tears when the video was shown. The court heard Lowry had no criminal history in Queensland but had convictions in New South Wales. In 2017, she was sentenced for driving at a mid-range alcohol level with a suspended licence. Her lawyer Jack Kennedy told the court his client relapsed into alcohol dependency after the death of her brother in the months before the crash and on the day, had been drinking with a friend to cope with isolation and depression. "She wasn't necessarily drinking for the thrill of it," he said. Mr Kennedy told the court Lowry, who had been at a licensed premises, chose to drink drive after becoming overwhelmed by social anxiety. "She describes having a panic attack and deciding to flee which is why she was driving at the time," he said. The court heard Ms MacMahon showed "great compassion" toward Lowry in her victim impact statement and offered her personal support to ensure she "never ever for the rest of your life do something like this again". "Justice for [Ms MacMahon] is Ms Lowry's genuine rehabilitation," Mr Smoothy said. When considering her punishment Judge David Kent KC told the court he gave "significant weight" to Ms MacMahon's views while also considering public safety on roads and adequate deterrence. "[Ms MacMahon] did not press for your imprisonment, and she says prisons can be counterproductive as a general statement of social research which no doubt has a sound basis," he said. Ms MacMahon, who lost her seat in last year's state election, was not in court for the sentencing.
News.com.au
5 days ago
- General
- News.com.au
Claims Kiama MP Gareth Ward told man he had a ‘bright future' after alleged sexual assault: court
A political staffer alleges Kiama MP Gareth Ward told him he would 'take care of him' if he 'stuck by him', the morning after the politician allegedly sexually abused him, a court has been told. Mr Ward, 43, arrived at the Downing Centre District Court on Wednesday, for the second day of his criminal trial, wearing a grey suit and an Akubra hat. The state independent was charged in March 2022 with three counts of assault with act of indecency, an alternative charge of common assault against an 18-year-old man at Meroo Meadow in 2013, and intercourse without consent against a 24-year-old man in Potts Point, in 2015. In court on Wednesday, the second complainant, who worked as a parliamentary staffer at the time of the alleged acts, was called to give evidence. The man appeared emotional and red in the face as he gave evidence in the criminal trial, and told the court he had attended an event on the night of the alleged assault at NSW Parliament House back in 2015. Crown prosecutor Monika Knowles asked the man about the event, to which the man, who was 24 at the time, said he had drunk 'three or four glasses of white wine', which was 'a lot for him'. The man said he ran into Mr Ward while he was trying to organise a cab ride home. 'We had a brief conversation then he invited me over (to his office at Parliament House) for another drink … I accepted,' he said. 'He poured me a wine, and I took a seat on his couch.' The pair then allegedly had a conversation on the couch, in which Mr Ward told the man he was 'impressed by the work' he was doing and told him he had a 'bright future'. The man told Mr Ward he had to leave as he lived 'a long way away'. 'Then he offered that I could stay at his that night,' the witness said. The pair allegedly walked to Mr Ward's apartment in Potts Point, and along the way Mr Ward continued telling the man about 'how bright' his future was. 'I was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable … he was being a bit too gracious with his kind words about me,' the witness told the court. Back at Mr Ward's apartment, the MP poured the man another drink and the man went onto the balcony. On the balcony, the man alleges Mr Ward leaned in and attempted to kiss him to which the political staffer pushed him away and said 'no'. Mr Ward leaned in again, a short time later and kissed the man, before the 24-year-old said he wanted to go to bed. The crown alleges the man was shown to his room by Mr Ward, who had allegedly stripped down to his boxers, before putting an arm over the man, and allegedly putting his hands on his buttocks before he was told to stop. Without warning, its alleged Mr Ward digitally penetrated him anally, before allegedly kissing his neck and masturbating to completion. The 24-year-old said he felt 'a bit down' and 'a little dirty and confused'. The following morning, while walking back to Parliament House, Mr Ward allegedly discussed the 24-year-old's future with him. 'It was a little quiet at first … at one stage he said if I stick by him he'll take care of me,' he said. The two maintained a professional relationship for some time after the alleged events. In March, 2022, the man made a formal statement to police and Mr Ward was formally charged. In her opening address on Tuesday, Ms Knowles told the court she alleges Mr Ward indecently assaulted another man, who had just turned 18, at his home on the South Coast in February 2013. Mr Ward, who remains on conditional bail, has pleaded not guilty to each of the five charges against him. He was committed for trial in August 2022, however, the trial has been delayed a number of times. Beginning his political career in 2011, Mr Ward was a councillor on the Shoalhaven Council, before becoming the Liberal Member for Kiama in 2011. He was re-elected as the MP for Kiama at the most recent state election in 2023. The trial continues.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
High profile politician allegedly invited a drunk man to his home and raped him - and on another occasion sexually abused a teenage boy, court hears
A former state minister is fighting allegations he invited a drunk man and a teenager back to his house on separate occasions to sexually abuse them. Gareth Ward, the member for the NSW seat of Kiama on the state's south coast, has pleaded not guilty to five charges, including sexual intercourse without consent and three counts of indecent assault. The 44-year-old faced Sydney 's Downing Centre District Court on Tuesday for the first day of his four-week trial. Ward has been accused of indecently assaulting an 18-year-old he met at a networking event on NSW's south coast in 2012. The alleged victim had been drinking at a party in Nowra in February 2013 when Ward invited him to his home and offered to pay for his taxi, the court was told. Crown prosecutor Monika Knowles claimed the teen kept drinking after he arrived before deciding to pretend to be passed out on the grass as a 'joke'. The court was told Ward allegedly tried to rouse him before putting his hands inside the teen's shorts and touching his buttocks and scrotum. The jury was told the teen stopped pretending to be unconscious and told Ward he wanted to go to bed, but the politician told him he wouldn't be safe sleeping on his own. The Crown alleged Ward got into bed with the teen, sat on his buttocks and began to massage his lower back. The teen froze and asked the MP to stop because he wanted to go to sleep, Ms Knowles claimed. The jury will be required to determine whether the alleged massage amounts to an indecent assault or, alternatively, a common assault. Two years later, Ward allegedly sexually assaulted a 24-year-old he worked with at NSW Parliament, the jury was told. The man had been drinking when the MP offered to let him stay the night at his apartment in Potts Point, Ms Knowles alleged. She claimed Ward poured them drinks and tried to kiss the man, who said no before briefly allowing a second kiss. After pushing Ward away, the jury was told the 24-year-old went into the room he had been offered and stripped off for bed. The Crown alleged Ward got into bed with him and tried to put his arm around the man, which he pushed off, before sexually assaulting him. The man said stop and tried to push him away, the jury was told, but Ward allegedly kissed the man's neck and masturbated beside him. Ms Knowles alleged the 24-year-old was left 'sad and confused', which was followed by a discussion of his future and a suggestion Ward would take care of him. Both men continued contact with Ward after the alleged assaults but later made complaints to police. Ward was charged over the alleged assaults in 2022, but has continued to maintain his innocence. He has held the Kiama electorate since 2011, winning three elections as a Liberal before securing the 2023 poll as an independent.
ABC News
6 days ago
- General
- ABC News
Details of alleged assaults heard during opening statements in Gareth Ward trial
The trial of former NSW Cabinet Minister Gareth Ward has heard the MP raped a 27-year-old man in his Sydney apartment and indecently assaulted 18-year-old man at his home on the NSW south coast. WARNING: This story contains content that readers may find Member for Kiama is accused of one count of sexual assault against the older man in 2015 and three counts of indecent assault against the younger man in 2012. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. During the first day of his trial in the NSW District Court in Sydney, the Crown prosecutor made her opening remarks. She told the court the first complainant, who had recently turned 18, allegedly had his buttocks rubbed by Mr Ward, and had his scrotum touched when he was wearing shorts with no court heard Mr Ward mounted his back to provide a massage, allegedly using his groin to perform the incident allegedly occurred on the back lawn of Mr Ward's property at Meroo Meadow after the complainant had been drinking and had a fight with his girlfriend. He accepted an invitation to Mr Ward's home, not realising he was the only one Crown told the court the complainant did not invite and was not expecting the sexual advance. "The accused did not comply when initially asked to stop," she Ward has pleaded not guilty to three charges of indecent assault and one charge of common assault in relation to the first complainant whose identity can not be revealed for legal reasons. Madam Crown told the court the second complainant would allege he had attended an event at NSW Parliament House and had been drinking when Mr Ward, who he knew, invited him back to his nearby apartment at Potts Point in September was 24 at the was alleged they had another drink, then Mr Ward unexpectedly tried to kiss then allegedly allowed a second kiss but withdrew when Mr Ward's tongue went into his court heard the complainant then went to bed dressed in his boxer shorts and Mr Ward entered the bed, and attempted to put his arm around without warning, Mr Ward allegedly put his finger into his anus and kissed him while masturbating himself."He was confused, couldn't sleep and didn't know why he didn't leave," Madam Crown told the court about her Ward later said to the complainant he was sorry if he made him feel uncomfortable, the court identity is also not able to be revealed for legal Ward was present in the dock throughout the proceeding after earlier pleading not guilty to all five charges as they were read out to the defence team is yet to respond to the prosecutor's opening statement. The trial is set to hear from several former Liberal politicians, including Don Harwin, Shelly Hancock, Jo Gash and Anne Sudamalis. Social media personality Jordan Shanks, also known as Friendly Jordies, has also been named as a witness. The case is expected to run for four weeks with the first witnesses due to give evidence on Wednesday.
