Daily London
An avowed Neo-Nazi leader has made a second bail bid after allegedly leading a group attack on an Aboriginal protest site, with his fiancée putting up $20,000 to secure his release.
Thomas Sewell, 32, raised his right hand to photographers as he was brought into Melbourne’s Supreme Court today, when he was supported by his partner and eight others.
The leader of white nationalist group National Socialist Network hired top barrister Dermot Dann KC to fight for his release a second time after bail was refused by a magistrate in September.
Sewell is charged with dozens of offences related to the August 31 Camp Sovereignty attack, including violent disorder, affray, discharging a missile and assault by kicking.
Dann said it was unfair for Sewell to remain locked up when 15 co-accused had been released on bail.
He said a trial over the incident, during which about 30 men stormed the Aboriginal protest camp at Kings Domain after attending an anti-immigration protest, might not happen for two years.
The maximum 10-year term for violent disorder was not “in the realm” of any sentence Sewell would be handed for his alleged role in the offending, Dann added.
“If this man is not released on bail, will he spend more time in custody on remand than he would if convicted and sentenced?”
He also pointed to issues in the prosecution case after Sewell was charged with assault against “unknown victims”, who the court heard were yet to be found.
Dann said any risk Sewell posed to the community could be ameliorated by bail conditions, including stopping him from coming into Melbourne’s centre and not contacting co-accused.
Sewell’s fiancée Rebecca Konstantinou told the court she had a $20,000 surety to secure his release on bail, which was funded from her own savings and from “family and friends”.
She previously worked in schools supporting children with trauma, but said she was not currently working as she cared for their two children while Sewell was locked up.
Prosecutor Erik Dober opposed Sewell’s release, saying he was “the initiating force” behind the attack.
“It is the applicant who leads the way, leads a charge of approximately 30 people into Camp Sovereignty, saying ‘let’s get ’em’,” he said.
“That by itself places him in a different situation of seriousness to the others.”
Dober said the trial delay was not unusual and Sewell’s serious role in the incident could see him jailed for close to the 10-year maximum.
The attack on Camp Sovereignty came a day before the 32-year-old was due to attend court over targeted threats to expose a police officer and his wife’s personal information, for which he was later found guilty.
The bail hearing will resume before Justice James Elliott later today.
