Titus Day to remain on bail after court rejects crown bid ahead of embezzlement sentencing

Titus Day will live to see another day of freedom after a Crown application to have him locked up on remand under new bail laws was rejected in the NSW Supreme Court.

Guy Sebastian’s former manager Titus Day will remain a free man ahead of his sentencing on embezzlement charges after a second prosecution bid to have him locked up on remand was thrown out of court.

A jury found the former talent manager to the stars guilty of embezzling more than $620,000 from the Australian popstar, following a high-profile trial which lasted seven weeks.

Prosecutors applied to have Day’s bail revoked the day after the verdict was announced, however the judge who presided over the case, Timothy Gartelmann SC, rejected the application.

On Tuesday, Crown prosecutor David Morters SC launched a second bid to have Day locked up on remand, telling the NSW Supreme Court it was “inevitable” the 49-year-old would end up spending time behind bars when he was sentenced later this year.

Mr Morters said recent changes to bail laws now meant an offender must be refused bail if their crimes will result in a full-time prison sentence, unless they could prove there were special or exceptional circumstances.

Titus Day has been granted freedom ahead of his sentencing. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gaye Gerard

“The Crown says the imposition of a full time custodial sentence is inevitable in the present circumstances,” he said, pointing to the amount of money embezzled and the three-year time frame involved.

“[The defence] has accepted in submissions filed that there’s no special or exceptional circumstances.

“In those circumstances, even placing the best possible light on it ... the only possible disposition is a period of imprisonment.”

However, defence barrister Dominic Toomey SC said a full-time prison sentence for Day was far from certain.

“We submit there’s a very real possibility of a sentence that could be served by way of an intensive correction order,” he said.

“And it’s a very real prospect, it’s not a mere hope.”

Judge Peter Garling dismissed the Crown application and continued Day’s original bail, saying he would publish his reasons for the decision at a later date.

Day became Sebastian’s manager in 2009 when he started his own talent management business 6 Degrees.

The court was told the two were close friends but parted ways after a bitter falling out in 2017.

Following the separation, Sebastian claimed he found anomalies in his financial records and launched legal action against his former manager to recoup the money he was owed.

Day will face a sentencing hearing on September 16.