NRL player Manase Fainu secures bail over church stabbing charge
Rising NRL hooker Manase Fainu has been released on bail after spending two weeks inside Parklea Correctional Centre after he allegedly stabbed a churchgoer at a dance. Fainu, 21, was all smiles as he was greeted outside the jail by his family and friends.
NSW
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Accused gang associate Manase Fainu has walked free on bail after the rising NRL star allegedly knifed a man at a Mormon church dance in Sydney’s southwest.
The injured Sea Eagles hooker could return to training as early as next week after allegedly stabbing a 24-year-old in the back in Wattle Grove last month.
The smiling 21-year-old was hugged by a huge group of family and friends with his manager Mario Tartak as he left Parklea Correctional Centre on Tuesday, having spent the past two weeks behind bars.
Fainu was earlier granted $10,000 bail in the NSW Supreme Court where several relatives burst into tears as he appeared via video link in prison greens.
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Manly Warringah coach Des Hasler, general manager of football, John Bonasera, and several teammates including Jorge Taufua, Moses Suli, Addin Fonua-Blake and newly-recruited Penrith hooker Apisai Koroisau also packed out the courtroom to support him.
Justice Stephen Rothman banned Fainu from entering Wattle Grove, drinking alcohol and taking illicit drugs.
He was also ordered to surrender his passport.
Fainu, of Guildford, must report daily to Fairfield Police Station and remain under house arrest unless accompanied by his parents or when attending rugby training.
The Manly Warringah player has pleaded not guilty to affray, recklessly cause grievous bodily harm in company and wound with intent to cause grievous bodily harm — a charge the judge said is “as close to murder as you can get”.
Mr Bonasera said Fainu is in “reasonably good spirits” amid very difficult circumstances and will likely return to training sometime next week.
“Getting back with his family and getting back into a normal routine is probably more important than football at the minute,” Mr Bonasera said outside court.
“His family have done it tough, as you can see by the large showing of family support here today.”
Fainu, whose contract expires in 2021, was stood down under the NRL’s no-fault policy and will remain sidelined until the case is completed.
The No.9 likely won’t face trial until the middle of next year’s season, which kicks off in exactly four months’ time.
Mr Bonasera said that would allow Fainu time to recover from a shoulder injury and he remains confident the Tongan international will play in 2020.
“We’ll continue to work with the NRL Integrity Unit and hopefully yes, that’s the case,” Mr Bonasera said.
Defence solicitor Elias Tabchouri said Fainu’s relieved relatives are convinced of his innocence and he’s received fantastic support “all the way from the club to his manager, to even the NRL”.
The court heard Fainu’s alleged victim started the October 25 fight by swinging a bat, but he suffered a punctured lung and Justice Rothman said the stab wound was “within of couple of millimetres” of killing him.
The prosecution alleges Fainu, who underwent shoulder surgery three weeks earlier, was seen by at least three people wielding the 10cm knife while a man in a sling was also seen scaling a brick wall before and after the attack.
But Fainu’s lawyer claims he’s the victim of mistaken identity because of his NRL profile, adding: “this case involves an all-in brawl between two groups in the dark”.
Defence barrister Richard Pontello SC also argued there’s no proof to the Crown’s allegation that Fainu has “some association with Islander criminal groups”.
Mr Pontello described Fainu as a “peaceful and caring young man” with no history of violence.
But Justice Rothman said “I’m not sure that caring is a term I’d use” given Fainu copped a 12-month good behaviour bond in 2018 for intentionally filming himself having sex with a woman and then posting it on Snapchat without her knowledge.
The judge warned that despite a letter of recommendation from Fainu’s Mormon bishop, he had “no doubt” that was an unacceptable risk to community safety that could only be mitigated with strict bail conditions.
Fainu is also permitted to leave his home for physiotherapy sessions, to receive psychological treatment for anxiety and to attend court appointments with his matter to be heard next at Liverpool Local Court on December 16.