Salim Mehajer sentenced to three-and-a-half years jail for lying to court

Disgraced property developer Salim Mehajer faces another stretch in prison after being handed a jail sentence for lying to a court.

Disgraced politician and property developer Salim Mehajer is set for another stretch behind bars after being jailed for up to three-and-a-half-years for lying to a court to pursue his business interests.

Mehajer, 34, was convicted in October of two counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of making a false statement under oath following a judge alone trial last year.

The case centred on the former Auburn deputy mayor’s lies in affidavits and under cross-examination used to secure relaxed bail conditions in other court matters dating back to 2017.

Salim Mehajer when he was last a free man on November 27, 2020. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

He pleaded not guilty to all counts and claimed at trial he needed a curfew lifted in order to fulfil his job as a building manager at a development he was tied to, a position the court was told he never held.

Judge Peter Zahra ruled Mehajer lied so he could be at liberty to “claw back” his business interests, including the property he was in danger of losing control over as liquidators moved in.

On Friday, Judge Zahra, who labelled the offending “carefully planned” and said it struck at the heart of the justice system, handed down a jail term of at least two-and-a-half years to the Lidcombe man.

In March, Judge Zahra told the court Mehajer’s actions showed “he has a total disregard for the courts and believes they can be manipulated for his own purposes at any time”.

Salim Mehajer has already lodged an appeal against the convictions. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

Mehajer’s barrister Evan James told the court last month his client had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and “clear need of comprehensive and long-term treatment”.

Mr James said life in custody had been tough for the controversial figure who has spent the past five months in his cell 23 hours per day due to his “public notoriety and that which has flowed from it”.

“He’s not permitted to mix with the general population. When he’s let out, he’s let out into a protected yard,” he said.

Mehajer was taken into custody in November and his sentence was backdated to the day of his conviction on October 19, meaning he will be eligible for parole on January 18, 2023.

He has already launched an appeal against the convictions in the Supreme Court.