Salim Mehajer facing jail time for breaching AVO and dangerous driving

Salim Mehajer has effectively been put under house arrest, granted bail on “very stringent” conditions after being charged with breaching an AVO.

The controversial former deputy mayor of Auburn, Salim Mehajer, will be kept “virtually under house arrest,” after he was charged with dangerous driving and breaching an apprehended violence order by “stalking” his estranged wife.

Mr Mehajer, 31, appeared in a glass holding cell at Burwood Local Court this afternoon wearing a blue hooded jumper, where the court heard he was alleged to have committed a “non-violent offence” of a “domestic nature” involving an ex-partner.

Police opposed bail as they feared Mr Mehajer could commit another serious offence or tamper with dashboard footage of the incident.

Former Auburn City Council deputy mayor Salim Mehajer steps out of a police paddy wagon. Picture: AAP Image/Dean Lewins.

The “very stringent” conditions include a $10,000 surety, reporting to Rose Bay police three times a week, and being kept “virtually under house arrest” at a home in Vaucluse.

The avid social media user also agreed “not to use Instagram” to communicate with his ex-partner or to contact or interfere with witnesses.

Hours before he was taken into custody, Mr Mehajer had posted a photo of himself with his estranged wife, Aysha Learmonth, which read “he [sic] is a photo that I hope to make you smile.”

However, Mr Mehajer’s lawyer George Thomas claimed the image, which has since been deleted, was “a hack”.

“If he was Christopher Pyne, who had his email hacked, perhaps the media perception would have been different. But he isn’t Christopher Pyne. He is Salim Mehajer,” Mr Thomas said.

The controversial businessman’s court appearance caps off a dramatic weekend for the Mehajer family.

On Saturday, Salim Mehajer’s sister, Aisha, married the nephew of Sydney nightclub identity, John Ibrahim.

The wedding took place less than 24 hours after the Ibrahim family bodyguard was shot in the torso, while setting up for the celebrations.

EARLIER

Mehajer has been arrested and is in police custody following a car crash in Sydney last night.

Mr Mehajer, 31, has been arrested for allegedly breaching an apprehended violence order taken out by his estranged wife Aysha, and dangerous driving. He is in custody at Campsie Police Station following the accident in Kingsgrove.

A NSW Police spokeswoman told The Australian, the property developer “is expected to be charged with two counts of breaking an AVO and it is likely he will be refused bail at Burwood Local Court later today”.

A man who witnessed the incident told Channel 7’s Sunrise that “I heard a guy being abusive towards another two people. He was carrying on, swearing, calling her all sorts of names, telling her to get out of the car ... She was obviously scared of him.”

Salim Mehajer and his former wife Aysha

Last month, Mr Mehajer was injured in a car accident while he was on his way to Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court for an assault trial. Mr Mehajer has been charged with assaulting a taxi driver and, hours later, Channel Seven reporter Laura Banks, who was covering the story.

Mr Mehajer’s arrest overnight came a day after police kept a close eye on a Sydney wedding involving the Mehajer and Ibrahim families following the shooting of an Ibrahim bodyguard in the back.

Semi “Tongan Sam” Ngata, a long-term guard for the family of Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim, was found with a gunshot wound at a Merrylands house on Friday night.

It came as the family was preparing for the wedding of Mr Ibrahim’s nephew and Mr Mehajer’s sister.

Chief Inspector Bradfield Peters described the attack as “brazen”, with the suspected getaway car found burnt out in a nearby suburb.

As guests arrived for the wedding on Saturday evening, marked and unmarked police vehicles patrolling the area for fear of further violence during the nuptials.

Luxury cars lined the streets surrounding the houses during what appeared to be a low-key event.

Mr Ngata was taken to Westmead Hospital for surgery and his condition on Saturday afternoon was listed as stable.

Salim Mehajer with his sister Aisha.

With AAP