The Snitch: Charles Waterstreet facing suspenseful wait over summer
Why does colourful barrister Charles Waterstreet have a tense summer ahead of him? What is Richard Buttrose’s latest court matter? What’s the explosive development in a very bizarre case? The Snitch is here.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Colourful legal figure Charles Waterstreet had his day in court on Monday, with a decision on whether he can work again now expected to take about 12 weeks.
Waterstreet, whose occasionally boundary-pushing lifestyle helped inspire the TV show Rake, fronted the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal on Monday in his lengthy battle to be reinstated as a working barrister.
The flamboyant lawyer was benched over a list of allegations, which included complaints from former staff that he sexually harassed them and tax issues.
Waterstreet has long denied the allegations.
Waterstreet argued his case for a full day on Monday in front of a four-person NCAT panel.
The panel is now reserved in its decision.
“For a multi-member panel, they can take up to 12 weeks to be completed,” a person more informed than us on workings of NCAT said.
This is the second stage of Waterstreet’s case, with the first being decided mostly in his favour last April.
In that section of his case, NCAT found Waterstreet’s poor behaviour, which included showing a sex toy to a woman during a job interview, was attributed to his undiagnosed and poorly controlled bipolar condition.
It declined to find that he was not a fit and proper person.
Should he win, Waterstreet — who represented high profile clients including the Skaf rapists and cop-turned-killer Glen McNamara — will still have to convince the Bar Council that he should get his lawyer’s licence back, which could be an even bigger legal mountain to climb.
But you have to factor a summer break into the equation, so the wait could be longer.
RICHARD BUTTROSE
Former-cocaine-king-turned-white-collar-restoration-project Richard Buttrose was tight-lipped this week about his legal battle against the NSW government.
Buttrose, the nephew of media icon Ita Buttrose, now runs a legal advisory business after serving a nine-year sentence for running an eastern suburbs-based drug ring that ended when the cops caught him with 6kg of cocaine and $1.3 million cash in 2009.
Buttrose has launched his own action against the NSW Trustee and Guardian in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, with the case listed for a first appearance next month in the Administrative and Equal Opportunity division.
One of the few clues is that the case is a “GIPA” and “privacy” claim.
The former stands for Government Information Public Access and the Trustee and Guardian is an agency that deals with wills and powers of attorney.
Mr Buttrose told us he was unable to tell us about the nature of the case when we called him this week. Stay tuned.
UNDERCOVER RAPE DECISION
A magistrate has shot down a move to cross examine a police undercover operative who has been accused of raping the target of an undercover drug sting.
Magistrate Megan Greenwood ruled on Tuesday that the operative would not be called to the witness box over the bombshell allegations that threatened to derail the case.
Instead, she told the Downing Centre Local Court that the claim should be explored in the District Court when the charged man stands trial.
The Sydney man was charged with supplying a large commercial quantity of the party drug GHB in 2023 following a six-month undercover sting.
The undercover operation involved a strategy where a civilian working for the cops as an undercover operative matched with the target on a gay dating app.
He then earned the target’s trust before introducing him to an undercover cop posing as a drug buyer.
But the court heard the accused man claimed he was raped by the civilian operative during the police operation.
This led to his lawyer Abdul Tlais raising questions in court as to whether the drug prosecution should continue if a rape had occurred as a result of the police investigation.
The operative has not been charged.
MACGILL BACK NEXT YEAR
The summer of court just got a little less dramatic.
The drugs trial of legendary spin bowler Stuart MacGill will now not begin until at least March.
MacGill’s trial, where he is accused of setting up a 1kg cocaine deal via his Neutral Bay restaurant, had begun in the Downing Centre District Court before the jury was discharged last week.
The trial was set to begin again on Monday before the handbrake was pulled on those plans.
It has now been listed to go again on March 3
3.
barrister.
Named: Man allegedly sexually assaulted girls as young as 2
Sex crime detectives have credited advances in technology for the arrest of a man who allegedly sexually assaulted five children more than a decade ago. See the arrest.
Driver miraculously escapes after car smashes into Sydney home
A driver has miraculously escaped with only minor injuries after an SUV crashed into a home in Kellyville, causing significant structural damage and prompting a specialist rescue response.