Singer Kamahl had switched his anxiety medication to herbal remedies when he allegedly sent threatening messages to a woman over an unpaid $2,000 loan, a court has been told.
A magistrate dismissed a charge of intimidation against the 89-year-old at Sutherland Local Court on Monday, ruling the matter should be addressed on mental health grounds.
Kandiah Kamalesvaran, better known by his stage name, was charged after allegedly sending several messages that included a threat to strangle a woman he had previously been friends with.
When the woman was asked to repay the loan, she responded by claiming Kamahl had abused her, prompting the singer to react the way he did, the court was told.
The woman had offered to pay her debt to Kamahl in weekly installments of five dollars, the court heard, and sent the first payment with the description: “To the abuser.”
He then messaged the woman, calling her, among other things, a “stupid ungrateful bitch”, the court was told.
“He reacts impulsively,” said Kamahl’s lawyer, Arjun Chhabra.
“Then he makes a foolish and potentially criminal statement.”
Kamahl (pictured) was charged with bullying after allegedly sending several messages that included a threat to strangle a woman he had previously been friends with.
Chhabra said his client had stopped taking medication for anxiety and depression at the time after a friend convinced him to rely on herbal injections.
“That was clearly foolish advice from that acquaintance,” he said.
Kamahl’s daughter arrived in Australia on the day of the allegedly intimidating messages and found him and his home in a “disheveled state”, the court was told.
He later reestablished the singer’s connection with health professionals and took control of his finances, Chhabra said.
Describing the case, Magistrate Paul Lyon said Kamahl was concerned about how he would explain the allegation of sexual abuse to his daughter and ex-wife.
Kamahl’s lawyer, Bobby Hill, told AAP that the singer maintained that the sexual abuse allegation was completely unfounded and was made by the woman to avoid paying her debt.
“Despite the allegation made by the complainant, New South Wales Police have never charged Kamahl with any sexual offences,” he said after the court ruling.
A magistrate dismissed a charge of intimidation against the 89-year-old man (centre) at Sutherland Local Court on Monday, ruling the matter should be dealt with on mental health grounds.
Kamahl had also threatened to file defamation proceedings against the woman over her claim, Hill added.
Lyon imposed an arrest warrant for violence on the singer for a period of two years that prevents him from approaching or contacting the woman, a measure agreed upon by the parties.
“It is tremendously important that people, and particularly men, when communicating with women… do so in a respectful manner,” the magistrate said.
The Malaysian-born singer rose to fame with two charting singles in the late 1960s and mid-1970s, as well as his repeated appearances on the long-running variety show Hey Hey It’s Saturday.
He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 1994.
Hill said Kamahl had worked hard to regain his cognitive and mental health over the past six months and was eager to put the matter behind him.
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