Sam Einfeld: Ex-Waverley councillor’s bail variation rejected 19 days from sentence

A once promising young local government representative was on a “trajectory of personal violence” when he smashed a car through a garage and assaulted an elderly woman in a bloodied attack, a court heard.

Sam Einfeld, when elected as a Waverley councillor in the late 1990s. Picture: Graham Hely. P/ .

A once promising local government representative was on a “trajectory of personal violence” when he smashed a car through a garage and assaulted an elderly woman in a bloodied attack, a court heard.

Ex-Waverley councillor Sam Einfeld, 44, and cousin of disgraced Federal Court Judge Marcus Einfeld who was jailed for three years after lying about a speeding ticket, appeared at Downing Centre District Court on Wednesday.

It came 19 days before his sentence for aggravated break and enter and destroy or damage property, charges to which he has previously pleaded guilty.

The 43-year-old’s lawyer James Payton made the application to remove a requirement, allowing his client to leave his rehabilitation facility at Odyssey House - as approved by staff - without supervision.

In reading from what Judge Jane Culver described as a “very troubling set of facts”, she detailed how Einfeld had a “lack of restraint” when he kicked the elderly woman on the ground, “causing her to bleed”. It followed after he smashed a car into her garage on April 23 2022.

Judge Culver accepted the facts may be disputed before sentence.

The court heard from Mr Payton who said “the vectors toward the commission of this offence” were no longer present, which saw him spend eight months behind bars on remand before being released to Odyssey House.

He said since the offence, his client had addressed his “very-long term addiction”, his poor mental health and his mother who he once cared for, was now in an aged care facility.

Mr Payton told the court Einfeld had “proved himself worthy of trust” and despite acknowledging there was concern for the victim, it didn’t “rise to the level of being an unacceptable risk”.

While agreeing his client would receive a custodial sentence, he said there were arguments to be made against further time in jail, given time served and quasi-custody through time spent at Odyssey House.

In responding to Mr Payton, the crown prosecutor said the ultimate concern was for the safety of the victim and community.

“As a drug free person who he presently comes … [he] may be considered not as much of a risk,” he said.

But, the prosecutor told the court that as someone affected by drugs, he “may “be considered a wild and dangerous risk”.

Judge Culver said it was a “perfect storm” which led Einfeld to committing the offences, given his poor mental health, long-term addiction, caring for his mother with dementia and his father being in care.

In considering the application, she said while the 19-day period before sentence wasn’t long, “it’s enough for violence to occur” and she was unsure whether a court would be persuaded there were options other than full-time custody.

“He did have a trajectory of personal violence [which] culminated and escalated … in the offence before the court,” Judge Culver said.

Despite “positive features”, she found there was an unacceptable risk to the victim’s safety, and rejected the application.

Einfeld will be sentenced on November 27.

News tips? Email: [e-mail]