By Clare Sibthorpe
Warning: Graphic content
Rugby league journalist Paul Kent said he feels “vindicated” after he was cleared of domestic violence charges against his ex-partner relating to a physical tussle over his mobile phone.
The 53-year-old senior writer for The Daily Telegraph and host of Fox Sports show NRL 360 was accused of attacking the 33-year-old woman at his home in Lilyfield on May 12, and has been found not guilty of common assault, intentionally choking a person without consent and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Sports journalist Paul Kent leaves court after being cleared of domestic violence charges.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
At the conclusion of a two-day hearing at Downing Centre Local Court, Magistrate Daniel Reiss said he could not rely on the complainant’s version of events over Kent’s.
The woman claimed Kent threw her to the ground after she took his phone off his home office desk, and put his hands around her throat, leaving her with injuries to her neck, arms and hand.
Delivering his judgment, Reiss said the medical evidence provided concluded “no such injuries have been found on the neck” and photographs of her arms were inconclusive.
In regards to the physical “wrestle,” Reiss said it was a case of “one word against another” and he was not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the alleged assaults occurred.
Outside court, Kent told reporters the case had been costly and “a big setback”, and had “caused significant reputational damage”.
“I’ve been vindicated today. The judge accepted what happened,” he said.
“I’ve been unable to do any kind of work.
“It’s been seven months I’ve had to sit there and feel like I’ve been unfairly arrested [and] unfairly charged, and I’ve had to sit there and have our public reputation lacerated by people who have used it as an opportunity.”
Kent has temporarily been stood down from his media roles. News Corp, which owns The Daily Telegraph and Fox Sports, has been contacted for comment.
Despite describing the public airing of the matter as “embarrassing”, Kent said he was “a big boy” and he’s “one of the lucky ones because my story has been heard and it’s been properly judged”.
“It’s up to me now to just try to regroup and get back to my normal life”.
Elaborating on his decision, Reiss said Kent “was acting in reasonable self-defence of his property”.
“In the actions occurring, I’m not persuaded that during the struggle over the phone, he placed his hands around her throat and applied pressure … I don’t see him physically trying to grab the phone and pull it back, while vigorous, was unreasonable in these circumstances,” he said.
Reiss described a tumultuous relationship between Kent and the alleged victim, who met in 2020 and started dating on-and-off from early 2021.
He said Kent wanted space in the lead-up to May 11, when the woman called him wanting to come over “for a hug” after a fight with her housemates and he reluctantly agreed.
The pair were intimate before having an argument over who owned a bottle of prosecco in the fridge, with the woman asking who visited him the previous Saturday night and accusing him of lying.
Kent told the court he broke off the relationship with the woman, and she left the house.
Over the next 24 hours, she sent Kent many angry texts. The court heard the woman turned up unannounced to his home about 10.30am the next day, on May 12.
Kent told the court he was writing his newspaper column in his home office when he saw the alleged victim standing in the hallway. He said he asked her to leave but she followed him into his office, grabbed his phone off his desk and tried to walk out of the room.
Kent then described a scuffle breaking out in which he attempted to grab the phone as she held it close to her chest. He said she was “rocking back and forth” and “fell to the ground” at some point.
“I went down over the top of her,” he said, adding she was still holding the phone, but he eventually managed to grab it by twisting it out of her hands. By this point, the phone case had broken.
A short time later, police arrived and recorded his version of events on a body-worn camera before arresting him and putting him in the van.
During the roughly 15 minutes Kent was inside the wagon, he claimed one police officer opened the door to check if he was OK because “it was hot”.
“[He] turned off his camera and said ‘I can’t give you any legal advice, but take this for what it’s worth’,” Kent told the court.
“When they get you to the station, they will ask you three things. They will want you to be interviewed; say no. They will ask you if you choked her; say no. They will ask if you assaulted her; say no. If you say no to all three questions, they’ll probably let you go, because her case is weak.”
Kent’s claims follow evidence on Monday from two police officers about the arrest.
Defence lawyer Phillip Boulten SC asked Constable Jack Winkler if he “had a conversation with him [Kent], saying you think the case is weak”.
Winkler responded: “I did not say that.”
NSW Police said they would look at the court outcome and any comments by the magistrate, when asked if they would investigate Kent’s claims about the arresting officer.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).
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