Man charged after alleged anti-Semitic abuse and intimidation incident in Bondi
A homeless man, who had been living in a Jewish-run crisis accommodation, remains in custody after allegedly hurling anti-Semitic abuse at a woman in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
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A homeless man, who had been living in a Jewish-run crisis accommodation, has been remanded in custody after allegedly hurling anti-Semitic abuse at a woman in Bondi.
Wendell Mumbulla, 21, faced Newtown Local Court via video link on Monday after he was charged with intimidation, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
He was also charged with destroying or damaging property, to which he has pleaded guilty, over for an unrelated matter in Newtown on January 15.
Police said Strike Force Pearl officers were patrolling Bondi shortly before 7.40am on Saturday when a woman flagged them down and claimed she had been subjected to anti-Semitic abuse by a man she had seen in the yard of a Flood St premises.
He was arrested the following day, just after 1.30pm, when court documents in the unrelated case show police attended Jewish House on Bondi Rd.
A caretaker allowed officers to enter Mumbulla’s room, where he was arrested.
On Monday, defence lawyer Matthew Allen told the court his client had a “long history of disadvantage”, having lost his father and had a “chronic alcoholic” for a mother.
The court also heard Mumbulla had “rotated” out of crisis housing and had slept rough while battling mental health conditions.
Mr Allen said Mumbulla was “working hard to maintain housing” and trying to turn his life around.
He told the court Mumbulla remaining in custody on remand would be “highly detrimental”.
Police prosecutor Alex Tomasetti said there was a strong case against Mumbulla and the community had expectations around “how these matters are dealt with”.
She added that a custodial sentence was likely and argued the court could not have confidence Mumbulla would comply with bail conditions given he had failed to do so “numerous” times in the past.
Magistrate Alexander Mijovich ultimately refused Mumbulla bail, accepting there was a “strong prosecution case” and noting he had previously breached multiple court orders.
Mumbulla is set to return to Waverley Local Court on the intimidation charge on February 11.
He is due to be sentenced over the unrelated matter in Newtown Local Court 10 days later.
Mumbulla is the 12th person to be charged under Strike Force Pearl, which was established in December to investigate anti-Semitic hate crimes across Sydney.
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Originally published as Man charged after alleged anti-Semitic abuse and intimidation incident in Bondi
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