Neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell sentenced to community work for assaulting a Channel 9 security guard
Supporters of a neo-Nazi leader have taunted media after he was sentenced for bashing a Channel 9 security guard in an attack that had a “racist aspect”.
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A neo-Nazi has avoided jail over the brutal bashing of a Channel 9 security guard after he told a court that he was weeks away from meeting his first born child.
Thomas Sewell, 29, claimed to the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court that his punching of a black security guard was not racially motivated, despite the assault coming seconds after the victim was called a “monkey”.
The leader of the European Australia Movement, which promotes white supremacy, was convicted and sentenced to 150 hours of community work for the “sickening” attack, in Docklands in March, 2021.
Immediately after his sentence was handed down on Thursday, his supporters wrote in the court’s online chat function: “Well done Tom”, “Hail victory”, and “Better luck next time journos”.
Sewell, who represented himself in the sentencing hearing after his lawyer quit, asked Magistrate Stephen Ballek not to jail him because his fiancee was having a home birth in four weeks.
The North Balwyn man was found guilty in December of affray and recklessly causing injury after repeatedly punching the victim to the face before he fell backwards, cracking his head on the pavement.
Sewell and his cameraman mate Jacob Hersant went to the Channel 9 studios claiming to seek a right of reply over an A Current Affair story that was due to air.
The filming pair were removed from the building’s foyer by the professional security guard, who appeared to try and ease tensions by swaying in front of the camera, with Hersant replying to the good-natured gesture by stating, “Dance, monkey, dance”.
“Watch yourself, bro, I’m not a dance monkey,” the security guard responded before the pair got in a scuffle.
Sewell claimed he acted in self-defence by launching a flurry of punches on the guard, who was looking at Hersant as he was smashed in the face from the side.
“My actions would have been the exact same regardless of whatever race or culture the person was,” Sewell told the court.
But Crown prosecutor Paul Stefanovic refuted his denials of a racial link to the assault, stating there was a “connection with those words uttered by Mr Hersant”.
Mr Ballek earlier found Sewell was “itching for a fight” and had jumped at the guard the moment he saw physical contact.
In sentencing Sewell, His Honour said the crime was an “ugly event” that had a “racist aspect”.
“The offending is sickening to watch on video, it would have been worse to watch live,” Mr Ballek said.
But he could not find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the assault was motivated by racism.
A witness to the crime gave a victim impact statement expressing fear Sewell’s supporters would come after him.
“I’ve never encouraged any of my supporters … to intimidate any witnesses and I discourage that at all times,” Sewell said in reply.
Sewell submitted three character references to the court, including from his fiancee, his employer, and a retired lawyer friend who conceded he did “not know the facts of the case”.
Mr Ballek said the gravity of the offending warranted a term of imprisonment, but due to Sewells lack of priors and previously good character, he was sentenced with conviction to a community corrections order for 18 months with 150 hours of community work.
The court heard Sewell has a pending County Court trial over separate alleged offending, for which he had spent seven months in solitary confinement behind bars.
After he was sentenced, Sewell performed a Nazi salute outside court.
Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dr Dvir Abramovich said this act showed that Sewell “is an unrepentant and full-throated white supremacist”.
“There would be many asking themselves whether a community order sends a powerful enough message that those who commit crimes of racial violence will face severe consequences,” he said.
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Originally published as Neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell sentenced to community work for assaulting a Channel 9 security guard
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