Inside Guy Sebastian’s 2012 legal stoush with 20 year-old who lost his teeth
With Guy Sebastian’s charges against his neighbour now dropped by police, it may bring back memories of another lengthy court feud between the singer and a 20-year-old who lost his teeth, writes Annette Sharp.
Entertainment
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The decision by police to drop charges against the neighbour of pop singer Guy Sebastian can be seen as a win for the little bloke, even if the little bloke is a somewhat irritating chap who may not keep his yard tidy.
Having been charged in January with allegedly intimidating Sebastian and damaging a rendered boundary fence between the two men’s vastly disparate properties – Sebastian’s a massive impenetrable mansion, the other a half-house – Phillip Richard Hanslow has spent recent months in court to defend a raft of police allegations.
On Wednesday the court dropped all charges against Hanslow.
An interim AVO order preventing Hanslow from contacting, approaching or harassing the singer for four months was accepted without any admissions from Hanslow.
Police had previously alleged that Hanslow had threatened to kill the singer following a six-year dispute that began when Sebastian and his blogger wife Jules started to build a house that today has about as much street appeal as Silverwater Jail.
With Sebastian reluctant to face the court for fear, according to the police prosecutor, of being “portrayed to be the villain” and the prosecution stating there was no CCTV footage of the alleged altercation – despite the multimillion-dollar property having a hi-tech security camera – it began to look increasingly likely the charges would be dropped.
Given Sebastian’s stomach for long and gruelling legal battles – not to mention his history of footpath fracas – 66-year-old Hanslow, who purports to be an invalid with a long list of health issues and has recently changed address, might feel relieved.
Certainly it turned out differently to the circumstances of a Sydney youth who came into contact with Sebastian’s head in 2012, resulting in the youth losing teeth after ticking off the one-time Hillsong worshipper.
In September 2012, Matthew Jones appeared before Waverley Court accused by police of trespassing at Sebastian’s former home, in Clovelly, shortly after midnight four months earlier on May 7.
In an incident that Sebastian said he believed was an attempted home invasion and break-in, it emerged that Sebastian had not been home when his wife phoned him at a music studio in Surry Hills to say she heard the front gate “rattling” and someone “banging” on the front door.
Jules Sebastian would later tell the court she “panicked” when she heard the noises and, after first calling her husband, called triple-0.
Sebastian arrived home soon after on his motorbike while his wife was still on the phone to the triple-0 operator. The triple-0 call was played to the court.
In it, the lifestyle blogger could be heard telling the operator: “He’s just got him, (Jones) is fine, he’s calm.”
Then, shortly after, she could be heard saying: “Oh my God, babe ... what are you doing? He’s hit him.”
Four months later, Jules Sebastian would tell a court that her husband’s head had only collided with the youth’s during a scuffle.
The incident was recounted for the court last year during Sebastian’s tough feud with his former agent and friend Titus Day, who was subsequently jailed for embezzling $600,000 from the singer. Day denied the allegations and is appealing against the verdict.
Asked repeatedly in that case if he had “headbutted” Jones, Sebastian strongly denied the suggestion but admitted he’d told people he had.
“I’ve told people ... that I knocked him out,” he said.
Jones, just 20 at the time of “headbutting” incident, would maintain through his defence barrister Winston Terracini SC, that he had simply mistaken Sebastian’s house for that of a friend having a party on the night of May 7.
He denied trying to break in to the home. Terracini told the court Jones had been “chased down the street” by the singer after walking into the wrong house “in an intoxicated state”.
He added this claim: “It’s the alleged complainant who is doing the assaulting.”
Once again Sebastian found it hard to find time to give evidence. His touring and recording schedule were cited as being too hectic.
After first being delayed, all charges against Jones were later dropped.
While the fun-loving youth has resisted approaches for comment in the intervening years, he did at the time document his court appearances.
At the same time, he also documented the transformation of his mouth – from smashed teeth to repaired teeth – to his Instagram page.
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