Talatau Senior Amone: Father of Dragons player bailed day after jailed for role in hammer attack
The father of NRL young gun Talatau Junior Amone has made an express bail bid 24 hours after he was jailed for being the ‘instigator’ of a shocking hammer attack in the Illawarra.
Illawarra Star
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The father of NRL young gun Talatau Junior Amone has made an express bail bid 24 hours after he was jailed for being the “instigator” of a shocking hammer attack in the Illawarra.
Talatau Senior Amone, 47, was sentenced in Wollongong Local Court on Monday to two-and-a-half years behind bars with a non-parole period of 12 months.
With time previously served in custody on remand, Senior would be released on parole in September, 2024.
The sentence comes after the Warrawong man was found guilty of damaging property, intimidation, entering a building or land with the intention to commit an indictable offence and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
His 21-year-old son, who has played 54 games for St George Illawarra since debuting in 2021, was found guilty of arming himself with a hammer and chasing a tradesman off a roof during the dispute across the road from the Amone family abode in November, 2022.
In Wollongong District Court on Tuesday, Senior applied for bail via his barrister John Korn while indicating an all-grounds appeal of Magistrate Gabriel Fleming’s judgment.
Mr Korn submitted Senior had been before the courts for several years and had not breached his bail apart from the matters before the courts.
The barrister cited strong community ties including Senior’s nine children as a reason he was not a flight risk and told the court his family would put forward the $350,000 surety which was hanging over his head since being charged a year ago.
Judge Andrew Haesler granted bail with the requirement Senior report to Lake Illawarra police station once a week.
The Dragons released a statement shortly after Junior was sentenced which read: “The Dragons acknowledge the two-year intensive correction order that was handed down to player Talatau Amone today.
“The club will now work closely with the NRL Integrity Unit to determine the appropriate next steps. An update will be provided once this process has been completed.”
An NRL spokesman said: “The NRL Integrity Unit will now review the proceedings in the Wollongong Local Court following the sentencing of Dragons player, Junior Talatau Amone.”
Magistrate Gabriel Fleming described the NRL player’s conduct as “appalling”.
“You armed yourself with a hammer, the victims were vulnerable, the victim was up on a roof, there was nowhere to go,” she said.
Ms Fleming told the court it was a “tragedy” the conviction was affecting Amone’s playing career and finances, as he supports his family in Australia and overseas.
“I think it is a tragedy, this could jeopardise your entire future in the profession you love,” she said. “It is your tragedy not mine.”
Ms Fleming individually sentenced the father and son for their roles during the confrontation. Both men were fined $1000 each for damaging a car, and will have to pay their share of $13,481 in compensation.
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