Steve ‘Commando’ Willis has AVO against ‘stalker’ client Jun Yue granted
Celebrity trainer Steve ‘Commando’ Willis has described in court the creepy “stalking” behaviour of a woman he had trained.
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Steve “Commando” Willis had reason to fear a former personal training client who sent him a barrage of messages, turned up at his house with gifts and stalked his social media, a court has ruled.
June “Margaret” Yue has been banned from contacting Mr Willis or go within 200m of his home or work for two years after a magistrate granted the former Biggest Loser star’s AVO application.
Ms Yue has already launched an appeal against the decision in the District Court.
Parramatta Local Court heard allegations during an October 21 hearing that Mr Willis became increasingly “rattled” by his interactions with Ms Yue, who he trained regularly in one-on-one sessions and bootcamps between March 2019 and May of this year.
Magistrate Jennifer Price told Downing Centre Local Court on Friday the number of incidents set out by Mr Willis, occurring over several months, was enough to “raise concerns” about Ms Yue’s conduct.
In his evidence the celebrity trainer told the court his client had “crossed the boundaries” of a normal business relationship on multiple occasions, despite efforts to set out his make his feelings known.
“You start to fear for your safety when you’ve expressed no many times and it’s just not accepted,” he said.
The court heard several incidents sparked fears for the 45-year-old, including when Ms Yue turned up to Sydney Airport on November 14, the day he returned from a training camp in Tahiti.
She claimed in court she was “in the area” and wanted to give her trainer a lift, despite a message flagging the offer not being replied to.
The father of four told the court he found her behaviour “strange” and became “unnerved” by her persistent requests for a lift with him to a camp held in Melbourne later in November 2019.
She would then wait outside his Elizabeth Bay home in the rain for “an hour” on Christmas Eve last year, sending him texts to say she wanted to give him a present.
By May 2020 Mr Willis had moved out to The Hills area of Sydney and said the cash-in-hand sessions he took “three to four” times per week with Ms Yue had dropped off.
He sent her a text on May 7 asking her to repay a debt she allegedly owed, and asked her to deposit it in his bank account saying he would not train her until she did.
On May 20 he claimed Ms Yue showed up to a private training session he was holding for another client in Kirribilli and tapped on his car window – having apparently tracked him down through social media.
“That rattled me because how does someone find me in North Sydney? The words from her mouth were, ‘I’ve been coming here every day of the week’,” Mr Willis told the court.
Another incident that month involving an argument between Ms Yue and Mr Willis’ partner Harika Vancuylenberg at Rouse Hill’s Caddies Creek Reserve, where Rosebery resident Ms Yue says she arrived with cash to pay him, prompted one of Mr Willis’ clients to call the police.
Fears grew when a car resembling Ms Yue’s was seen near his home soon after, Mr Willis claimed in court.
Under cross-examination the Rosebery woman denied she was “obsessed” with the Commando and said only respected him as a “master” of his craft.
Ms Price found her overall to not be a credible witness.
“I am satisfied that the evidence has established on the balance of probabilities … that there are reasonable grounds for Mr Willis to fear stalking by Ms Yue,” Ms Price said.
“I am satisfied in all of the circumstances that the conduct as a whole is sufficient for the making of an order.”
Ms Price noted she found Mr Willis to be considered and forthright in his evidence at the hearing this month, while she observed Ms Yue as “awkward” and someone unable to recall details “when they were inconvenient”.
Originally published as Steve ‘Commando’ Willis has AVO against ‘stalker’ client Jun Yue granted