Joel McIlroy: Ex Home And Away actor denied bail after alleged cop attack
Ex Home And Away star Joel McIlroy cried amid multiple court outbursts before he was denied bail for allegedly shouldercharging a female cop and punching her in the face during an unprovoked daylight attack in Sydney.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Alcohol, drugs orders in AVO against Kate Ritchie’s husband
- What you get as a Daily Telegraph subscriber
A tearful former Home And Away actor cried out “lies!” in a Sydney court before being denied bail for allegedly bashing and hospitalising a female police officer.
Joel McIlroy was suffering from a fatal disease causing poor impulse control when he “viciously” shouldercharged and repeatedly punched the 29-year-old woman in an unprovoked attack on Tuesday, Central Local Court heard.
Police allege the 46-year-old Surry Hills man intervened in an unrelated arrest on Rutland Street where he lives about 11am and struck the senior constable in the face after she told him to go away.
A downcast and silver-bearded McIlroy wore a ripped, green prison shirt when he appeared in court on Wednesday via video link from Surry Hills police station.
MORE NEWS:
Jailed: blaze mum left kids alone to visit boyfriend
Man charged with tourist’s farmstay sex assault
Prominent couple charged with stealing $189k
The Silver Logie Award nominee made several outbursts before eventually putting his head in his handcuffed hands and wiping away tears when Magistrate Robert Williams ordered him to remain behind bars ahead of his next court date on November 5.
McIlroy yelled “lies!” and said “that’s incorrect” when police prosecutor Liam Edwards accused him of trying to put the petite officer into a headlock “for no reason whatsoever” during the dramatic daylight struggle.
The officer is only 5 foot 4 inches tall and weighs around 60 kilograms, while McIlroy stands 6ft tall and weighs 100kg, the court heard.
A bystander allegedly helped the woman and another female officer subdue the ex-TV soap star, who needed to be wrestled to the ground, police say.
Video of the arrest shows McIlroy allegedly yelling: “I can’t breathe … get your hand off my face!” while accusing one officer of sitting on him.
The injured policewoman spent the night at St Vincent’s Hospital to get treatment for swollen bruising to her face, neck and shoulder.
She was released on Wednesday but will require ongoing physiotherapy treatment for a dislodged vertebrae, Mr Edwards said.
McIlroy’s Legal Aid lawyer said 10 years ago he was diagnosed with Huntington's disease, a condition causing degeneration of the brain’s frontal lobe which eventually killed his father.
“Ms McIlroy is a person who cannot always control his impulses and that is a condition that will continue,” she said.
McIlroy was charged with two counts of assault officer in execution of duty, resist officer in execution of duty, and wilfully obstruct officer in execution of duty.
At one point he blurted out “well I haven’t read the facts”, forcing the magistrate to ask him to “just be quiet.”
Despite McIlroy’s mother offering a $5,000 bail surety and offering him to stay at her Swansea home, Magistrate Williams said the risk of him endangering the community again if released was too high.
McIlroy has a similar assault conviction from 2013 and the magistrate said he was likely to face jail time if found guilty again, noting the “strong prosecution case.”
For more than a decade McIlroy starred on Home And Away alongside his on-screen wife Kate Ritchie, whose ex NRL player husband Stuart Webb is due to face Waverley Local Court on Thursday as police seek an apprehended violence order against him on behalf of the radio presenter.
McIlroy also had guest roles in Australian television series Water Rats and All Saints but has not had much acting work since his long-running stint on Home And Away ended in 2006.
