Vaucluse pensioner fronts court over alleged antisemitic stickers, assault

A Vaucluse pensioner accused of stickering anti-Israeli messages around Sydney’s eastern suburbs has allegedly been filmed using pliers to slash towards the face of a person who confronted him.

A court has also heard Irvin Mirzaiyan has previously been convicted of a near-identical crime and police fear he will “resume his antisemitic campaign”.

Irvin Mirzaiyan is accused of stickering anti-Israeli messages around Sydney.Credit: Facebook

The 62-year-old’s court appearance came as police revealed they will likely charge two Sydney nurses with a Commonwealth offence over a video in which they allegedly threatened to kill Israeli patients. Meanwhile, a man named in a search warrant after a caravan containing explosives and a list of Jewish targets was found in Dural has been charged over a separate antisemitic attack in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

Police allege Mirzaiyan, who migrated from Iran in 1989, was confronted by a younger man on Old South Head Road in Vaucluse after he was spotted putting up “antisemitic stickers” on Tuesday morning.

Footage taken by the alleged victim was aired in Waverley Local Court on Wednesday which showed Mirzaiyan swing the tool at a person filming him before the recording stops. He allegedly cut the victim’s elbow.

The sticker was destroyed in the confrontation but allegedly included the words “Genocide” and “7/10/2023”, the date of Hamas’ attack on Israel, and watermelons, a symbol for Palestine.

Police prosecutor Robert Breckenridge told the court it was a “very alarming and concerning” allegation and said the alleged victim was right to challenge Mirzaiyan’s behaviour.

“The court would have significant concern that, if released on bail, Mr Mirzaiyan would promptly resume his campaign of antisemitic stickering in the eastern suburbs, and present a very real danger to anyone who attempts to stop him,” Breckenridge said.

Mirzaiyan was arrested and charged with using an offensive weapon, assault, stalk/intimidate, and affix placard without consent. His legal aid lawyer said he would plead not guilty and that the person filming had been “verbally aggressive”.

Magistrate Stephen Barlow said Mirzaiyan had been convicted and fined $220 in December for the “disturbing” crime of stickering a synagogue. That sticker showed a traditionally dressed Jewish man with the words “If I don’t steal it, someone else will”.

Barlow said Mirzaiyan’s beliefs may be considered “offensive or volatile”, particularly in the city’s east, which houses a large Jewish community. However, he concluded the risks posed by Mirzaiyan on bail could be reduced if he was effectively under house arrest. He was granted bail on the condition he could only leave his house in daylight hours and with his wife or daughter.

Police reveal charges nurses could face

On Wednesday, Detective Superintendent Darren Newman from NSW Police’s Strike Force Pearl – which is investigating antisemitic attacks – said the specific charge that two Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital nurses are likely to face over an antisemitic video is a Commonwealth offence concerning the use of a carriage service.

Nurses Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh with Israeli social media personality Max Veifer.Credit: @maxveifer on Instagram.

Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Abu Lebdeh were stood down after Israeli content creator Max Veifer posted a video online showing him speaking with them via the live video chat platform Chatruletka.

In the video, Lebdeh is heard allegedly threatening Israeli patients and telling Veifer that he will one day “die the most horrible death”, before saying she “won’t treat” Israeli patients and will “kill them”.

The maximum penalty for the Commonwealth offence police are considering laying is three years in prison.

Asked about the delay in laying charges, Newman said there are “complexities around obtaining the evidence”, given Veifer does not live in Australia, and getting “an admissible statement that can be used in a court in NSW”.

Asked if he was confident he could get that evidence, he said: “I am.”

Arrest over Woollahra antisemitic attack

Police on Wednesday also revealed Scott Marshall, who along with his partner Tammie Farrugia was named on a search warrant after an explosives-filled caravan was found in Dural, was arrested on Tuesday over his alleged involvement in an antisemitic attack in Woollahra.

Tammie Farrugia and Scott Marshall, who were named on a counter-terror warrant, have both been charged over the Woollahra incident.Credit: Facebook

On December 11, a car was set on fire in Magney Street, and another vehicle and several buildings were vandalised with antisemitic graffiti. The damage was estimated to total $20,000.

Marshall, who is behind bars on other charges, was charged with participating in a criminal group, destroying or damaging property as an accessory before the fact, and taking and driving a car without consent of the owner.

He was refused bail and will appear at Downing Centre Local Court on April 3.

CCTV released after Maroubra incident

In a separate Strike Force Pearl investigation, police released footage of two men seen in a white Kia Stonic SUV near the scenes of three antisemitic vandalism incidents – at Mount Sinai College and a nearby home in Maroubra, the Eastgardens Westfield shopping centre, and a home in Eastlakes.

On January 30, the school was vandalised with antisemitic slurs including a message comparing Jewish people to terrorists. A nearby home was also graffitied with antisemitic slurs.

The shopping centre and Eastlakes home were vandalised on the same day.

NSW Police believe the three incidents are linked, and detectives have released CCTV footage of men they would like to speak to.

The driver was described as being a man of a large build wearing dark clothing and a baseball cap. The passenger is a man of Caucasian appearance and of a thin build wearing a blue jumper and a white medical mask.

Newman said the Kia had cloned numberplates, which “adds to the complexity around this particular investigation [because] there are people trying to cover their tracks.

“There’s certainly a level of planning in these particular incidents and I’m not ruling out potential links to organised crime.”

One of the men in the new CCTV footage.Credit: NSW Police

He added police were also investigating whether any of the people arrested over recent antisemitic attacks were paid for their involvement.

A week earlier on January 21 the Only About Children childcare centre on Storey Street in Maroubra was allegedly firebombed in the early hours of the morning. Police believe the non-denominational childcare centre, which is nearby Mount Sinai College, was hit by mistake.

The Herald does not suggest the incidents are connected.

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