An elderly woman attacked in her home by a family friend and former Sydney councillor said she has feared for her life every day since, and is afraid she may never feel safe again.
Sam Einfeld smashed down his 83-year-old godmother’s garage door with his car, knocking her to the ground and embarking on an attack that left her with multiple fractures.
Sam Einfeld leaves Downing Centre District Court on Thursday.Credit: AAPIMAGE
Einfeld, 45, became one of Australia’s youngest local government representatives in 1999 when he was elected to Waverley Council. He switched politics for law in 2004, with stints at firm Minter Ellison and the National Justice Project.
While he appeared to be living an impressive life on paper, his personal life took a dark turn into prescription drug addiction. He abused his own prescriptions, including Ritalin, went “doctor-shopping” and bought extra medication on the street.
Margot Priday had known Einfeld since he was a baby and was best friends with his mother, the Downing Centre District Court heard on Thursday. The court heard his mother died several days ago.
In April 2022, the widow’s life changed immeasurably when she was attacked in her own home by Einfeld, whom she knew extremely well and thought she could trust.
Sam Einfeld is a former Waverley councillor.Credit: Kate Geraghty
Einfeld repeatedly rammed her garage door with his car until knocking it down, sliding under it to enter her courtyard. He smashed her car windscreen with a pot, knocked her to the ground and repeatedly kicked her as she lay helplessly.
Police were called to the home and Einfeld fled.
Einfeld is the cousin of disgraced Federal Court judge Marcus Einfeld, who was jailed for three years in 2009 over lying about a $77 speeding ticket.
In a powerful victim impact statement read to the court by her daughter, Polly, Priday said she once celebrated all Einfeld’s birthdays and invited him to share her own family’s milestones.
Einfeld embarked on a break-and-enter attack of an elderly woman.Credit: LinkedIn
Before April 2022, she was enjoying retirement and adjusting to life after the loss of her partner.
That was until Einfeld committed a “violent, senseless and unprovoked crime” in her own home, which he knew well.
She can no longer sleep, filled with memories of Einfeld’s rage-filled face attacking her and wearing what she suspected were her late partner’s boots she had given to him as a gift.
“[I’m filled with] the memory and fear and sheer terror of wondering if I was about to die,” she said.
Einfeld swapped politics for law before his life entered a downward spiral.Credit: Kate Geraghty
“To this day, I wonder what would have happened if you hadn’t heard those [police] sirens? Would you have stopped or would I be dead? I am constantly worried that I may never feel safe again because of you, Sam.”
Priday said she has been overwhelmed with daily flashbacks that sent her into a panic. Trauma forced her to sell the beloved home in which she intended to live out her days and Einfeld destroyed her close friendship with his mother.
“I am hollowed out by the betrayal: the betrayal of having this happen by someone I knew so well and trusted,” she said.
Einfeld earlier pleaded guilty to aggravated break and enter with intention to commit a serious indictable offence, being assault, and destroying or damaging property.
Giving evidence during sentence submissions, Einfeld broke down as he told the court he did a “horrible thing” he will never get over.
“I can never forgive myself for what I did, and I’m sorry, Polly,” Einfeld said through a crackling voice.
“I can never forget it, and I have to live with that. I can only begin to imagine what it must be like to be a victim.”
Einfeld said his life spiralled into prescription medication abuse from about 2011-2012. He said he became unable to cope with full-time work and left.
The court heard he was sentenced to a good behaviour bond in 2018 for two assaults occasioning actual bodily harm and, in 2019, was sentenced over another assault. Einfeld told the court he did not realise the impact of his drug addiction on his decision-making at the time.
After his arrest for the attack on Priday in 2022, Einfeld spent several months in custody before being granted bail to seek inpatient treatment at a rehabilitation clinic for his substance abuse.
He told the court he had been clean for about 18 months.
Einfeld will be sentenced by Judge Jennie Girdham on Friday, September 13.
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