Catalano charged with assaulting a woman
Prominent media owner Antony Catalano was charged with assault and was accused in court of dragging a woman around an apartment by her hair and ankles and then swinging an iron over her head.
The woman’s coccyx was fractured during the alleged attack of the 59-year-old woman, who was released on bail at a hearing in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday evening.
Catalano, co-owner and president of Australian Community Media (ACM), is facing charges of assault, false imprisonment and making threats to kill, according to a report by the ABC.
A police informant requested that Catalano be refused bail and detained, claiming he posed an unacceptable risk of committing further crimes and fleeing Victoria.
“The defendant dragged the victim into the laundry room, where he grabbed a clothes iron and held it up to the victim’s head, causing the victim to grab the iron herself,” according to the police report read in court.
The informant said the woman suffered a broken coccyx and was hospitalized for several hours.
Catalano’s lawyer, Jason Gullaci, SC, accepted that the entire incident was recorded by CCTV cameras and there was “no doubt” that his client had physical contact with the woman.
“There are still a few moving parts about what exactly happened, how it started, how it moved into the area where the CCTV footage was found, and how it came to light in relation to what happened in the corridor,” he said.
Güllacı said that the woman’s claim that Catalano forcibly swung the iron at her head was not included in the written police reports submitted to the court.
Before granting bail, Judge Rohan Lawrence described the evidence as “relatively strong” and said a prison sentence was possible if the charges were proven, the ABC reported.
Given the early stage of the case, Catalano did not need to enter a defense.
This imprint has contacted Victoria Police for further details regarding the incident.
The court was told Catalano had recently suffered a mental health issue at his beach house at Wategos Beach in Byron Bay and was admitted to a psychiatric ward last month after using drugs.
“It is believed that approximately three days ago, at his property in Byron Bay, the defendant himself called the police because he believed he had seen people emerging from wooden structures around his property,” the police officer testified on Friday.
Catalano did not respond to requests for comment from this byline.
This imprint also contacted ACM managing director Tony Kendall regarding the allegations the company chairman is facing.
Catalano, originally a police reporter for Fairfax Media, became chief executive of Domain and then spent $115 million in 2019 to buy Australian Community Media, publisher of major regional newspapers including. Canberra Times And Newcastle Herald.
Catalano, a father of nine, has property and business interests across the country, including a luxury penthouse at the St Moritz complex in St Kilda and the famous Byron Bay resort Raes in Wategos.
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