Salim Mehajer was smiling and laughing as he began his ‘virtual house arrest’
YESTERDAY was a very hard day in the increasingly chaotic life of Salim Mehajer — but that still couldn’t wipe the smirk off his face.
SALIM Mehajer has probably had better days — but despite a late night arrest and spending most of the day locked up, he couldn’t stop smiling yesterday.
The controversial property developer and ex-deputy mayor of Auburn Council was charged with two counts of breaching an apprehended violence order (AVO) relating to estranged wife Aysha Learmonth. He was also charged with dangerous driving over an unrelated car crash in the southern Sydney suburb of Kingsrove where Ms Learmonth lives.
Mr Mehajer emerged out of a police paddy wagon at Burwood Local Court in a hoodie, jeans and thongs yesterday and smiled at officers who led him to the cells.
He was smiling broadly later in the day as a magistrate agreed to release him on bail and then appeared to be enjoying the moment when he was surrounded by media after raising $10,000 surety with just minutes to spare.
He left court laughing but said nothing to waiting media.
Mr Mehajer’s estranged wife told police she “felt scared for my safety” when she saw his white Audi behind her Sydney home late last night.
Ms Learmonth had been walking to her friend’s car to get McDonald’s when she saw the vehicle. Panicking, she ran inside and called police.
An AVO banning Mr Mehajer from contact with Ms Learmonth has been in place since last year. Police alleged the breaches related to him driving to the laneway behind her home and posting a picture on Instagram of the couple when they were still together.
The 31-year-old has also been charged with dangerous driving after an early morning incident in Kingsgrove. Less than 20 minutes after he was allegedly seen in the laneway the Audi collided with a Toyota Corolla on a nearby street.
No one was injured in the crash but Mr Mehajer was arrested at the scene and taken to Campsie Police Station.
Magistrate Joy Boulos released Mr Mehajer on strict bail conditions, including a curfew and social media ban, and $10,000 in surety. He has to surrender his passport and cannot visit Kingsgrove.
She said the “very stringent” conditions would leave Mr Mehajer “virtually under house arrest” at his home in Vaucluse.
“Are you aware of those terms ... if [you breach them] you will get arrested and placed in custody,” she asked him, adding the sentence for breaching conditions was two years jail.
Mr Mehajer told her he understood what was expected of him and was later seen smiling at his legal team.
A police statement of facts tendered to court stated Ms Learmonth was concerned when she saw a white Audi driving along a laneway behind her home.
“As I walked into the rear yard, I saw a white Audi Q7 drive down the laneway towards me. I did not see who was driving the vehicle.”
“I believe Salim was driving the vehicle and would have had no reason to be there. I immediately felt scared for my safety, because I believed Salim was driving and would have no good reason for being there at that time of the morning,” she told police.
Mr Mehajer’s barrister George Thomas said the allegation was effectively one of “stalking” and suggested there was a “stark” inconsistency to the statement Ms Learmonth had given to police and statements provided by other prosecution witnesses.
“The stalking is the allegation that involves him travelling into this laneway behind the place where his ex-partner was living.”
He suggested the police case in terms of the stalking charge was no more than “moderate” in strength as no one — not even Ms Learmonth — had identified him as the driver of the car.
Mr Thomas said Mr Mehajer may have unknowingly contravened the AVO with regards to the Instagram post, and pointed to the similarities with the social media hacking suffered by Coalition frontbencher Christopher Pyne last week.
“If he was Christopher Pyne that had his email hacked, perhaps that would change the perception of the matter, but he’s not Christopher Pyne, he’s Mr Mehajer.”
Although Mr Thomas proposed Mr Mehajer give up Instagram entirely as a bail condition, the only conditions Magistrate Boulos imposed was he not use it or any other social media platforms to contact his ex-wife or witnesses.
Police prosecutor Liam McKibbin opposed bail saying there were risks Mr Mehajer could commit further serious offences and there was concern he would interfere with witnesses or evidence - including dash cam footage inside the car during the collision.
He will return to court on the latest charges in late March.
Mr Mehajer had arrived at Burwood Local Court in the back of a police van dressed in a blue hoodie and thongs.
The Daily Telegraph reported he was heard screaming his estranged wife’s name after the crash.
A couple who were woken by the incident said it was Mr Mehajer’s screams, not the crash that woke them up.
Mr Mehajer told a court last week he and his wife were still happily married.
“She wants to get out of the media and acts like she’s not with me but she is with me,” he said. “We are still talking.”
The lavish wedding in 2015 catapulted the couple to national stardom.
The extravagant outdoor ceremony, which saw Aysha and Salim tie the knot, involved four helicopters, a jet, a sea plane and a motorcade of luxury sports cars and motorcycles. But within 12 months the fairytale romance looked to have turned into a nightmare.
The arrest comes after a tough weekend for the Mehajer family.
Mr Mehajer’s sister Aisha on Saturday married Hassan Sam Sayour, the nephew of notorious Sydney nightclub identity John Ibrahim.
But on the eve of the wedding, John Ibrahim’s bodyguard Semi “Tongan Sam” Ngata was shot in the back in what was rumoured to be a bid to stop the nuptials.
The wedding was mere metres away from the scene of the shooting, an act police described as a “brazen and targeted” attack.
And while all this was happening, Salim Mehajer was frantically trying to find a personal assistant. The property developer took to Instagram at the weekend to find a “sophisticated personal assistant” who must not have a criminal history, but must be able to drive.
In what we can only assume is a reminder that he will be the boss, another requirement appears to be: “don’t steer”.
Mr Mehajer planned to announce the successful applicant on Tuesday and warned for “spam/fake or time wasting potential staff ... (Termination will take pace [sic] immediately).” He means “place”.
But in a since deleted post on Instagram, Mr Mehajer said his account had been hacked and he was not actually looking for an assistant.
It included a photo of him with his estranged wife and said: “My phone has been hacked as i misplaced my phone”.
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