Manase Fainu: Manly star refused bail over stabbing of man at a Mormon church dance
Sea Eagles hooker Manase Fainu — who is behind bars on remand charged with stabbing a man at a church dance — claims he is a victim of mistaken identity and he was not the man wielding a knife during a wild brawl in Sydney’s west.
NSW
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One of the NRL’s brightest rising stars Manase Fainu is in jail on remand after being charged with thrusting a 10cm knife into a man’s back in a late-night brawl outside a Mormon Church dance.
The 21-year-old Manly Warringah Sea Eagles hooker — tipped as a future captain in the game — claims he is the victim of a case of mistaken identity, having been wrongly identified by witnesses because of his NRL profile.
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Fainu sat stony-faced in the dock at Liverpool Local Court on Tuesday, forced to listen to a sceptical Magistrate Joanne Keogh as she read out details of the attack which allegedly implicate him before refusing him bail.
“The accused is seen to be in possession of a 10cm knife … he raises it and stabs the victim in the back,” Ms Keogh said.
“The injury is a punctured lung … close to the worst kind of injury. He runs away while others render first aid.”
Fainu was officially sidelined from the game under the NRL’s no-fault stand down policy on Tuesday, which will remain in place until the case is finished.
Police charged him with wound person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm – which carries up to 25 years jail if proven – as well as affray and recklessly cause grievous bodily harm in company.
The court heard the alleged brawl started around 11.30pm, following an incident inside Friday’s dance at Wattle Grove when a man known as “Big Buck” allegedly hit another man with a baton.
“Big Buck was asked to leave. Once out in the car park the victim along with other people were approached by this Big Buck and the accused,” Ms Keogh said.
“The person Big Buck produces an extendible baton and he strikes someone to the side of the head.” It is then that Fainu allegedly produced the black-handled knife and stabbed the 24-year-old man in the back.
“(It is) the seriousness of the injury which indicates a degree of force and ferocity,” Ms Keogh said.
Paramedics worked on the victim at the scene before he was taken to Liverpool Hospital in a serious condition.
Fainu’s lawyer Elias Tabchouri told the court his client denied being the stabber.
He argued his client may only have been identified by witnesses because his two breakout seasons in the NRL had given him a profile.
“He has played two years of first grade football so has some notoriety in his community,” Mr Tabchouri said.
“The person (they identified) … is the person they knew, the person who is said to be a first grade footballer.
Mr Tabchouri told the court Fainu said to him “there is no way in the world I have stabbed anyone” and “I don’t know who stabbed whom, I knew nothing about this until I received a call from the police.” “He understands he cannot involve himself in any of these antics,” he said.
Mr Tabchouri said Fainu turned up to Liverpool Police Station on Saturday night but police were too busy to question him so he returned the following morning.
The police prosecutor argued Fainu had associations with “Islander criminal groups” but Mr Tabchouri questioned whether those relationships were simply long-time connections from Fainu’s upbringing.
“He lived in the same house all of his life, 21 years in the same house with his grandmother, seven siblings, his father,” he said. “This association your honour, we say, is tenuous at best.”
Ms Keogh denied Fainu bail, saying she placed little weight in Mr Tabchouri’s argument that his client was only identified by witnesses because of his profile.
The court heard Fainu escaped conviction over an unrelated charge last year relating to the filming of another person, with a court granting a section 10, and he had seen a psychologist as recently as last week.
Outside court Mr Tabchouri said “it’s a very serious outcome”.
“We respect the decision of the court although we don’t necessarily agree with it, but that’s fine. We will pursue the avenues available to us to secure his liberty,” he said. “We’re very confident our client is innocent of this.”
Of Fainu’s family Mr Tabchouri said “obviously they’re devastated so we just have to move forward and continue fighting these charges because clearly he’s not guilty”.
Asked if Fainu was concerned about his career, Mr Tabchouri said “that’s not really our primary concern right now. There are bigger things than football right now.”
NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg said the stand down rule was not a “judgment on guilt”. “The no-fault stand down rule provides for the automatic stand down of players on a no-fault basis where they are charged with a serious criminal offence,” Mr Greenberg said.
“Given the charges, Manase Fainu is automatically subject to the no-fault stand down rule, which will remain in place until the outcome of the court proceedings.”
Manly said in a statement: “Manase will be automatically stood down from all matches on a no fault basis until the court proceedings are finalised. The Club accepts and endorses this decision and will continue to support the wellbeing of Manase and his family.”