Darko Krajinovic fined an extra $90K for Mt Stuart demolition
A controversial developer who illegally knocked down his heritage home atop Mount Stuart has been hit with a further five-figure fine just days after he cried poor. LATEST FROM COURT >>
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- Million-dollar townhouse developer who illegally knocked down Mt Stuart home says he can’t afford fine
- Controversial Mt Stuart developer who knocked down heritage home guilty of further three charges
CONTROVERSIAL developer Darko Krajinovic has been fined an extra $90,000 for further illegal demolition of a heritage-listed house atop Mount Stuart.
The 31-year-old was sentenced in the Hobart Magistrates Court on Friday for his “arrogant disregard of the law” in removing the stone footings at the site in October 2018.
The fine comes just days after Krajinovic had cried poor, with his sentencing delayed amid his claims he had incapacity to pay a court-imposed fine.
But on Friday, his lawyer Nicholas Edmondson said Krajinovic decided to formally withdraw that argument, accepting his financial position meant he was able to pay.
It’s the second time Krajinovic has been fined over his highly-publicised demolition work at the site, which he carried out to make way to build four $1.2 million townhouses.
In 2018 he was fined $225,000 after pleading guilty to nine charges relating to the illegal demolition of the home with an excavator in February 2017 – creating an asbestos risk in the neighbourhood and leaving a well-known eyesore that was subsequently defaced by vandals.
While sentencing on Friday, Magistrate Jackie Hartnett said Krajinovic removed the stone footings just months after losing an appeal against his initial fine.
“Under the guise of tidying up the block … but motivated by a development venture, you demolished the stone footings,” she said.
“In doing so, you removed what little remained of heritage significance.”
She noted a submission from Hobart City Council barrister Tom Cox that Krajinovic’s fine should be substantial enough that it wouldn’t “just be considered a development cost”.
“These are offences that require a penalty that will act as a deterrent to you and others,” she said.
Ms Hartnett said a significant sentence was warranted, but would fall short of the maximum penalty given he hadn’t exposed “anyone to risk on this occasion”.
She said Krajinovic – a father-of-six who arrived in Tasmania in 2000 as a refugee and who owns six properties – now accepted he had capacity to pay a fine.
Ms Hartnett said Krajinovic’s references spoke highly of him, and that hard work he’d done to overcome the difficulties of arriving in a new country.
“The contempt you have shown for the planning laws seems to be at odds with that otherwise good behaviour,” she said.
“Financial gain has overruled the character that is spoken about in those references.”
Krajinovic had pleaded not guilty to five charges, but was found guilty of three – failing to engage a building surveyor, undertaking a development in breach of a permit and performing notifiable demotion work.
In addition to the $90,000 fine, Krajinovic was ordered to pay the council’s legal fees.
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