Former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro has been ordered to pay more than $10,000 after equipment was damaged during a scuffle with a freelance cameraman in Sydney last year.
Barilaro was filmed grabbing a camera on the evening of July 23 after he emerged from dinner at Manly and Matthew Costello began filming him. At the time, Barilaro was embroiled in a scandal over his appointment to a lucrative taxpayer-funded trade job in New York City.
John Barilaro pictured leaving court in February.Credit: Kate Geraghty
Barilaro was charged in August with assault and malicious damage, but both charges were dismissed on mental health grounds in February.
Costello sued Barilaro in the Local Court’s small claims division last year for trespass and conversion, arguing his Sony camera was “irreparably damaged” by Barilaro. He originally argued the camera was worth $11,740.50, before this was revised to $8500.
Costello’s barrister Anna Elizabeth told the court on Monday her client bought a replacement camera for $8500 after $4300 was spent to repair the original and it still had significant issues.
Elizabeth said a custom metal frame on the camera was bent during the confrontation, a microphone went missing, and a wireless receiver was damaged.
Costello said in a police statement that Barilaro grabbed the camera for about 30 seconds on two separate occasions, pulling and shaking it. He said a woman also grabbed the camera and shook it.
“I believe that John and the first female are responsible for the damage to the camera,” Costello said in the statement.
Barilaro’s lawyer Gerard Abood said the vision demonstrated his client grabbed the camera for one second in the first incident, much more fleeting than the 30 seconds claimed. Barilaro denied touching it during the second incident, and denied causing any damage.
In his statement, Barilaro said he grabbed the camera as he walked past Costello and pulled it downwards “to get the bright light out of my eyes”.
Abood said the metal frame on the camera was thick, and there was “no way, on commonsense grounds” that his client could have twisted and distorted it.
He said his client had never been shown the damaged camera or been given an opportunity to inspect it to see if it genuinely needed to be replaced, comparing the situation to a traffic accident where the other party claims their car has been written off but does not let anyone see it.
“Just because it’s a camera and not a Camry, doesn’t mean it’s any different,” he said.
Assessor Janice Connelly found Barilaro trespassed on Costello’s property on two occasions, first grabbing the camera for several seconds and then for slightly longer, causing damage.
She said she watched the video clips depicting the incidents “over and over” and saw clearly that Barilaro walked directly towards the cameraman when he did not have to, before making an effort to grab the camera.
Connelly said she did not think either Costello or Barilaro were correct with their estimate of how long the camera was grabbed, but the exact amount of time did not really matter.
“It seems likely to me ... when I weigh all of that up, there was likely a second trespass by the defendant,” Connelly said. “That and the first trespass have caused damage to the plaintiff’s equipment he had with him on that day.”
She ordered Barilaro to pay $7675.27 for the replacement camera, $940 for a new microphone, $359.50 for a receiver, and $1499 for the construction and installation of a metal frame – a total of $10,473.77.
Barilaro must pay interest on this amount, which is yet to be determined, as well as court costs and legal costs. He was ordered to pay within 28 days.
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