Joe Elias pleads not guilty to intimidation and assault charges

Joe Elias claimed he was assaulted during a standoff with workers at a Sydney marina in court today after pleading not guilty to a string of charges including intimidation and assault.

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Party boat owner Joe Elias claims he was struck in the head during a dispute with workers at a Sydney marina before police ended up charging him with multiple offences.

The 53-year-old – who is the brother of Balmain Tigers great Ben Elias – appeared in the Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday after pleading not guilty to a string of charges including intimidation and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

It comes after The Daily Telegraph revealed last week ship master Paul Titze, 45, had been charged by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority after a death on the luxury catamaran Lady Rose, which is operated by Elias’ company.

Joe Elias outside court. Picture: John Grainger

Elias has never been charged over that incident.

In a separate series of incidents in 2019, police allege Elias threatened a maintenance worker and assaulted the owner of his former office at Blackwattle Bay Marine in Pyrmont where his company All Occasion Cruises used to keep a fleet of party boats.

The court was previously told Elias had been served an eviction notice from the marina before he discovered CCTV cameras he had installed throughout the marina worth thousands of dollars had disappeared.

Elias took to the witness box in court and claimed he was struck in the head by the maintenance worker after he had inquired about the missing cameras.

All Occasion Cruises vessel The Lady Rose.

“He pushed me and hit me twice,” Elias told the court.

“He hit me with his fists … to my head … I said I have a witness here to prove you hit me.

“That’s what the conversation was all about, getting my cameras.”

However, prosecutors questioned this and asked why Elias had not contacted police when he realised his CCTV cameras had gone missing.

“I didn’t think of that situation, I wish I did,” Elias said.

“I’m not that type of guy that will report everything … I wish I did go to police … I made a mistake.”

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Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge adjourned the case and will hand down her judgment next month.

Berowra mother-of-two Shalina Abdulhussein, 39, was found dead in the bathroom of the luxury catamaran during a party attended by 27 guests on Sydney Harbour in February 2019.

A report from the Office of Transport Safety Investigations found it was likely Ms Abdulhussein was overcome by a harmful gas called hydrogen sulphide.

Elias has renamed the vessel, painting over the name Lady Rose and calling it My Way.