The Snitch: Channel 7 reporter Robert Ovadia arrested after filming in courthouse

Robert Ovadia’s nose for a good story got him strife this week, after the veteran crime reporter whipped out his phone to record sheriffs chasing an offender fleeing from court.

Channel 7 news journalist Robert Ovadia in action.

It is a reporter’s instinct to whip out a phone and press record when drama unfolds in front of their very eyes. But it got one senior journalist in strife this week.

Channel 7’s Robert Ovadia was at Parramatta Local Court on Tuesday, reporting on the case involving former Kellyville High Deputy principal Damian Wanstall.

Channel 7 journalist Robert Ovadia.

We’re told while he was waiting outside the courtroom on level one, an offender in an unrelated matter tried to make a run for the front doors.

A dramatic arrest ensued as court sheriffs dashed the man’s hopes for freedom.

Ovadia whipped out his phone and filmed the man’s unsuccessful runner — in full view of court staff, we’re told.

At some point, one of the sheriffs told Ovadia he couldn’t use his phone to record inside the courthouse and demanded the seasoned crime reporter delete it.

Never one to shy away from a robust discussion, especially in the face of a good story, Ovadia wanted a second opinion.

According to sources who saw the kerfuffle, Ovadia sent the video to his legal team for advice on the legalities of filming inside the courthouse. It is a well known no-no to film inside the courtroom but the rest of the courthouse appeared to be a grey area.

The journalist asked the sheriffs if they could wait for five minutes until he heard back from Channel 7’s lawyers and if he was in the wrong, he would happily delete it.

But the impatient sheriff wasn’t willing to negotiate and threatened to arrest him.

Ovadia stuck to his guns.

Then, in a breathtaking over-reaction, Ovadia was then placed under arrest, read his rights and marched downstairs to the foyer.

In walked a NSW Police officer and Ovadia’s phone was swiftly taken off him. Ovadia spent the following few hours at Parramatta Police Station trying to get it back.

In July this year Ovadia copped a shove outside court. Picture: 7 News

He was not charged with any offence and reiterated his promise to delete the video himself after his lawyers eventually informed him he was in the wrong.

Turns out journalists are not permitted to film or take photographs once you set foot inside a court building.

But Snitch wonders whether the misunderstanding could have been solved without excessive display of public servant bravado.

Channel 7 news director Jason Morrison said the reporter acted instinctively.

“It felt like an enormous over-reaction to something a reporter was doing on instinct,” he said.

JUST FOR THE RECORD

Having your name or something you have done become so famous that it gets adopted as part of society’s lexicon could be viewed as a triumphant moment of cultural infiltration.

Think pro surfer Mick Fanning who heroically “punched a shark” when it attacked him live
on TV during South Africa’s J-Bay event in 2015.

Not so for ex-NRL star John Hopoate.

John Hopoate at the Legends of League rugby league match between the Australian Team of NRL Legends and the FNQ All Stars in 2019. Picture: Brendan Radke

Hopoate was suspended for 12 weeks in 2001 for what was described as an “on-field sexual assault” when he inserted his finger into the rear end of three players who were tackling him, in an attempt to speed up his opportunity to play the ball.

The incident became so notorious that “Doing a Hopoate” is now firmly entrenched in the local lingo.

What’s more, it featured in a case before the Federal Court of Australia last week.

In the case, Richard Ford is suing employer, Inghams Chicken, for $1.4 million in a sexual harassment suit.

He claims he was harassed by a number of staff members, including one on incident where “he had been poked up the anus” the court heard.

In September 2016, Mr Ford made a complaint to a fellow
co-worker, where he said “the other workers had been doing a John Hopoate to Mr Ford”, the court heard.

Judge Collier interjected — perhaps unnecessarily — to explain to the court: “I understand that this alleged reference was to a well-known finger-poking incident involving professional rugby league player John Hopoate.”

Almost 20 years after the initial on-field incident involving Hopoate, it has now made it on to the public record of this country’s legal system.

Does it get any more “rugby league” than that?

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