Protester Nicola Minus charged with offensive conduct

THE woman who allegedly spat in the face of a man at a Sydney council meeting has been charged over the vile act.

THE woman who allegedly spat in the face of a council employee during a fiery and dramatic meeting in Sydney on Tuesday night has been charged.

Nicola Minus, 26, will face the Newtown Local Court on June 16 in relation to her confrontation with Inner West Council administrator Richard Pearson who she appeared to spit at as he left the meeting, which had been interrupted by protests.

Police confirmed to The Daily Telegraph they had reviewed the incident at the Marrickville Town Hall and had decided to charge Minus, who is a former UTS student.

Riot police had to move in on Tuesday as the crowd forced the abandonment of the meeting, which was the first after the NSW Government sacked Marrickville, Leichhardt and Ashfield councils to form the new authority.

Protesters were angry with the merger but also had the WestConnex motorway in their sights.

“Mums and dads would be horrified to see what occurred last night,” Local Government Minister Paul Toole told news.com.au yesterday.

“What we saw was spitting and physical intimidation taking place. When the administrator walked in he had his papers taken from his hand and thrown to the floor [and] the staff were abused. In local government there is no place for that.

“What we saw last night was not democracy; this was a mob mentality trying to disrupt the democratic process,” he said.

Minus is said to be “freaking out” after the incident and was keeping a low profile, the Telegraphreported.

Meanwhile, Mr Pearson said he wanted to concentrate on the future.

“As I’ve said before, I’ve moved on from it but I support the police doing their job.”

Originally published as Protester Nicola Minus charged with offensive conduct