TV newsman testifies in Einfeld case

JOHN Mangos has told a court he chatted to Marcus Einfeld at a Sydney restaurant before the former judge's car was caught speeding.

SKY News presenter John Mangos briefly chatted to Marcus Einfeld at a restaurant on Sydney's northern beaches in the half hour before the former Federal Court judge's car was caught speeding.

Mr Mangos this morning gave evidence at the committal hearing of Mr Einfeld, telling the NSW District Court that the pair had a five-minute conversation between 3.30pm and 4pm on January 8, 2006, at Freshwater eatery Pilu.

Mr Einfeld's silver Lexus was later caught speeding at 4.01pm in Mosman, on the city's north shore, but the 68-year-old denies he was behind the wheel at the time, claiming that he was driving his mother's white Toyota Corolla on that day because he had lent his car to his friend professor Teresa Brennan.

It was later revealed that Brennan had died in 2003.

Mr Mangos, who said he told Mr Einfeld about his planned trip to Israel during their brief conversation, agreed that their chat could have occurred as early as 3.30pm.

While he said he couldn't be “precise” about the time of their conversation, he was adamant that they only talked for a short while.

“I'm saying five minutes because it could have been four and it could have been six. It wasn't seven to 10 (minutes), is what I'm saying,” Mr Mangos said.

Another witness, Pilu manager Grant Burtenshaw, told the court that Mr Einfeld paid the $163.35 bill for his meal with Vivian Schenker with his credit card at 3.34pm.

His table was closed at 3.41pm but Mr Burtenshaw agreed that did not mean Einfeld left the restaurant at that time.

Mr Einfeld is charged with 14 offences: three counts of perjury, six counts of perverting the course of justice, two counts of making a false instrument, two counts of using a false instrument and one count of hindering a police investigation.

Closing submissions will be heard in the case tomorrow morning.

Yesterday Ms Schenker - reportedly the accused’s long-term lover - changed her recollection of the traffic incident for the second time.

The former SBS journalist was unable to verify a statement she gave to police earlier this year in relation to events on January 8.

She had originally supported Mr Einfeld's version of events, telling police in August last year that she and Mr Einfeld had not been travelling in his Lexus at the time it was caught speeding because he had borrowed his mother's car and had driven her to a restaurant at Freshwater.

But after being confronted in February this year with evidence to the contrary, Ms Schenker allegedly admitted to police in a recorded interview that they had travelled in Mr Einfeld's car, not his mother's, to and from the restaurant.

"She said when she did her first statement she knew what she had said in relation to the vehicle was not true as he was in the silver Lexus," Crown prosecutor Wayne Roser said.

"She further stated that she made the statement she did on 22 August 2006 because she thought it would be helpful to Einfeld."

But under oath yesterday, Ms Schenker told the court that she now found it hard to recall exact details of the day, explaining she had "an imperfect memory".

Ms Schenker said she could not accurately remember the make of the car she and Mr Einfeld were in on January 8 last year. "That's fair to say, I can't picture the car," she said.

According to the most recent version of events that Mr Einfeld provided to police about his movements on January 8 last year, Ms Schenker was with him at 4.01pm on that day. It was at that time his silver Lexus was caught speeding in Mosman.

However, Mr Einfeld claimed that at that time the pair were still driving - in his mother's white Toyota Corolla - back from Freshwater.

Credit card records show that Mr Einfeld paid the Freshwater restaurant bill at 3.34pm. Ms Schenker said yesterday that after the meal they went for a stroll near the beach and it was about 30 minutes before they began the drive back to her home in Cremorne.

Mr Einfeld's Lexus was photographed speeding at 4.01pm in Macpherson Street, Mosman, only a few streets away from Ms Schenker's home.