Empire Bay: Australian Federal Police officer Liam Joel Sadler denies harassing ex with messages
An Australian Federal Police officer, who has provided security for the PM and Governor-General, has denied harassing his ex-girlfriend by bombarding her with messages, a court has heard.
Central Coast
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An Australian Federal Police officer, who has provided security for the PM and Governor-General, has denied harassing his ex-girlfriend by bombarding her with messages, a court has heard.
Liam Joel Sadler, 26, of Empire Bay, faced Gosford Local Court on Tuesday where he has pleaded not guilty to one count of using a carriage service to menace or harass between 10am and 11am on July 15 last year.
The matter was set for a defended hearing but the police prosecutor sought to amend the indictment to include the dates from 4am on July 13 to 11am on July 15, 2024.
Mr Sadler’s solicitor Michal Mantaj opposed the amendment, telling the court he had sought clarity from the prosecution about how the police intended to run their case as early as August last year and was only told about the amendment as late as 3pm the day before the hearing.
He said his client was prejudiced by the amendment, which increased the number of messages relied on by police in an attempt to prove the elements of the offence.
Mr Mantaj said had he been told earlier he could have made other preparations.
Mr Mantaj told the court Mr Sadler had provided security for the Prime Minister and Governor-General but had been stood down from duty on full pay while these matters were before the court and was unable to apply for promotions.
The police prosecutor told the court it was always their intention to rely on all the messages contained in the brief of evidence for both context and to prove the elements of the offence.
Magistrate Scott Nash granted the amendment but adjourned the hearing until October 27 to give Mr Sadler’s defence time to prepare for the extended indictment.
He also awarded Mr Sadler $6017 in court costs for his solicitor’s daily fee and four hours of “wasted” time the day before that Mr Mantaj spent chasing clarity around the prosecution’s intention to amend the indictment.
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