Mary-Anne Martinek allegedly attacked neighbour’s cameras and bins amid failed political campaign

A wannabe politician allegedly attacked her neighbour’s CCTV cameras and rammed her bins with her car during a failed campaign to get elected to Bendigo’s local council.

Mary-Anne Martinek was an unsuccessful candidate for the Golden Square Ward in the 2024 Bendigo council election. Picture: Supplied.

A prospective independent in the federal election allegedly attacked her neighbour’s CCTV cameras in a bizarre rampage and rammed her bins with her car during a failed campaign to get elected to Bendigo’s local council.

Mary-Anne Martinek, 61, who unsuccessfully ran as a candidate in the 2024 local government elections, was charged in October with breaching a person safety intervention order after allegedly causing $100 in damages to her neighbour’s CCTV cameras with a garden rake in August during a bitter feud with her neighbour.

She claimed in court that the cameras were “following and stalking” her while she was “doing my own business [sic]”.

Court documents reveal Ms Martinek was charged in January with an additional 20 breaches of a personal safety intervention order around the time she campaigned to be elected as a Bendigo councillor in the Golden Square Ward.

Police allege Ms Martinek breached the order by “harassing the protected person by driving into her fence and bins” on multiple occasions and causing criminal damage to the protected person’s property.

Ms Martinek faced Bendigo Magistrates’ Court for the first time on Monday after not attending court on multiple previous occasions, providing a doctor’s note stating she was “medically unfit” for court.

The court heard Ms Martinek was “disagreeing” with the charges, beginning negotiations with the prosecution.

Ms Martinek also claimed that previous reporting by The Herald Sun had resulted in her being targeted and “attacked”, seeking a court order suppressing images that allegedly depicted her attacking her neighbour’s CCTV cameras with a rake.

She claimed that a garden rake had been zip tied to the front fence of Long Gully Veterans Centre where she sits on the board.

She also alleged that as a result of this publication’s coverage a man who is known to her assaulted her and attempted to abduct her, claiming she was “dragged by the hands” from a moving car.

Magistrate Sharon McRae made an interim suppression order prohibiting the publication of any images that allegedly depict Ms Martinek wielding a rake and attacking security cameras.

As the new charges were revealed, Ms Martinek has seemingly started another political campaign, this time flagging her intention on social media to run as an independent candidate in the upcoming federal election.

Ms Martinek will return to court in June.