A neo-Nazi leader accused of leading an attack on an Aboriginal protest site has hinted at a possible excuse, but still claims he was provoked.
Thomas Sewell, 32, and more than a dozen other men appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday. Camp sovereignty incident.
Mr Sewell is believed to have led a group that stormed a venue after an anti-immigrant demonstration in Melbourne’s city center in August. The men dressed in black are said to have pinned down residents of the indigenous camp, kicking and punching them. Three people were injured and one woman had to have staples stapled to her scalp to close her wounds, the court heard earlier.
Sewell and co-defendants Nathan Bull, Timothy Holger Lutze, Augustus Cooley Hartigan, Ryan Williams and Blake Cathcart each requested Tuesday that the case be postponed until March.
Mr Sewell’s lawyer, Matthew Hopkins, told the court that Mr Sewell was in “settlement talks” with prosecutors and needed time.
Hopkins said that while the facts of the case are still pending, prosecutors have confirmed that the charges are “not necessarily in issue.”
Sewell told reporters outside court that he disputes the claim that the attack was unprovoked.
“If we can agree on the facts, we’re willing to do what needs to be done,” he said. “The idea that I’m just walking around town and hitting people for no reason is just a lie.”
Three of the defendants, Zach Stephen DeWard, Billy Conheady, and Hamish Buescher, have formally pleaded not guilty to charges including violent riot and riot. They will each stand trial in Victoria County Court, with their first directions hearing scheduled for March.
The other defendants, Jake Crockett, Michael Nelson, Jan Zaharin and Michael Saarinen, will contest the charges at a magistrate court hearing in May. Jayden Johnson was the only offender to admit offenses, pleading guilty to violent assault, assault by kicking and committing an indictable offense while on bail. He is scheduled to face a plea hearing in Victoria County Court in August.
Outside court, members of the public confronted Sewell over his views, calling him a racist.
AAP