Retired Crown prosecutor loses bid to clear his name over Woolworths Nazi racism fiasco

A retired Crown prosecutor has waged a bizarre appeal in the Supreme Court after he was penalised over a Woolworths elevator fiasco – in which he gave a German food volunteer a Nazi salute and said “Heil Hitler”.

Tony Jacobs.

RETIRED Principal Crown Counsel Tony Jacobs has waged a bizarre appeal in the Supreme Court after he was penalised over a Woolworths elevator fiasco – in which he gave a German food volunteer a Nazi salute and said “Heil Hitler”.

Mr Jacobs spent decades working for Tasmania’s Director of Public Prosecutions, retiring just two years ago as the state’s most senior Crown prosecutor.

But Mr Jacobs himself became the subject of legal proceedings earlier this year, when the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal ordered Mr Jacobs pay Helping Hands volunteer Tim Seidenspinner $500 for the “distress and humiliation” he suffered at the Wellington Centre during February 2021.

Tony Jacobs.

It’s not the first time Mr Jacobs has found himself in hot water over alleged racist comments – in 2011 a case against him was dismissed over claims he said to his former Iranian neighbour: “I will see you in court Mr Ayatollah”.

In the more recent Woolworths case, Mr Jacobs’ racist comment and gestures occurred after the lift stopped and a pregnant woman attempted to get in, but Mr Seidenspinner pointed to signage showing it was full due to Covid restrictions.

Now, a newly-published Supreme Court of Tasmania judgment has revealed Mr Jacobs made a failed attempt to appeal the racial discrimination finding, asking for the tribunal’s orders to be set aside and for the case to be re-heard.

Mr Jacobs argued, among a number of other points, that he never knew Dr Seidenspinner was German.

He argued he should have been permitted to cross-examine Dr Seidenspinner on his German accent, and whether the average Hobart person would be able to recognise it from other European accents.

Mr Jacobs previously said he didn’t “pick any particular accent”, and only said “Heil Hitler” because Dr Seidenspinner’s actions reminded him of “what you’d see portrayed in the movies of a SS officer during the war”.

Former Crown prosecutor Tony Jacobs was penalised for giving a Nazi salute to a German food volunteer in Hobart and saying “Heil Hitler”.

Mr Jacobs also took umbrage to Dr Seidenspinner referring to him as an “elderly man” in his complaint, claiming ageism in itself was “serious discrimination”.

Acting Justice Martin dismissed Mr Jacobs’ appeal, finding most of his grounds of appeal were without merit, of no substance, irrelevant, or references to minor errors of no consequence.

“It was not a coincidence that the person who the appellant called a Nazi, and to whom the appellant directed the Nazi salute saying ‘Heil Hitler’, was of German heritage,” he said.

What took place after the elevator episode had also previously been in contention, the judgment revealed.

Dr Seidenspinner claimed Mr Jacobs made rude gestures at him and the other volunteer and told them to “f… off”.

But Mr Jacobs claimed he only stuck his fingers up and swore after the two men drove past him, shouting and shaking their fists at him, reminding him of the “hicks who invaded the US Capitol”.

He said he didn’t realise Dr Seidenspinner was a “German legal doctor”, but thought the pair were “two country bumpkins” from “up the Derwent Valley somewhere”.

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