Disgraced former politician Salim Mehajer will learn this week how much time will be added to his already lengthy prison sentence after admitting staging a car crash in Sydney’s west.
Mehajer, 38, appeared in the Downing Center District Court in Sydney on Wednesday after pleading guilty to a series of charges, bringing a long saga to its final stages.
In July, Mehajer pleaded guilty to 22 charges, including making a false statement leading to a police investigation, making a false call for an ambulance, careless driving and perverting the course of justice.
The charges relate to a staged car crash in western Sydney in October 2017 in an effort to avoid appearing at a local court hearing.
His black Mercedes AMG crashed into another car at the intersection of Nicholas and Delhi streets in Lidcombe, and television crews at the scene captured Mehajer being stretchered into an ambulance with his neck strapped into a brace.
He also pleaded guilty to manipulating identity information to commit a felony, related to the designation of other drivers as being involved in traffic and traffic violations.
The matter was due to go to trial in 2020 before it was quashed at 11am and has been subject to lengthy legal delays.
After pleading guilty earlier this year, Mehajer faced a sentencing hearing before Judge Warwick Hunt on Wednesday.
Mehajer, 38 (pictured in 2020), appeared at the Downing Center District Court in Sydney on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to a series of charges.
The charges relate to a staged car crash in western Sydney in October 2017 in an effort to avoid appearing at a local court hearing. The photo shows the scene of the accident.
Mehajer has faced several trials in recent years and the car accident charges represent the latest matter for which he is in court.
His lawyer, Ian McLachlan, told the court that Mehajer had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2018, that there was a causal connection between his condition and his offending, and that he was suffering from “grandiose thoughts” at the time.
He asked Judge Hunt, who will hand down his sentence on Friday, to set back Mehajer’s sentence.
“He’s obviously had a lot of time to think about his previous actions,” McLachlan said, noting that Mehajer had been in custody since November 2020, when he was found guilty of two counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of making a false statement. . under oath.
Mehajer came to public attention in 2015 after her lavish wedding, complete with helicopters, fighter jets and dozens of luxury cars, closed a street in Lidcombe.
Auburn’s former deputy mayor is already in prison after he was convicted in separate trials on unrelated fraud and domestic violence matters last summer.
In a decision handed down earlier this year by District Court Judge James Bennett, Mehajer was sentenced to a maximum of seven years and nine months in prison.
Television crews at the scene captured Mehajer (pictured) being stretchered into an ambulance with his neck in a brace after the car crash in October 2017.
He was found guilty by a jury in May last year, following a trial at which he represented himself, of six charges comprising multiple counts of assault, one count of intimidation and one count of suffocation.
He was found guilty of assaulting a woman, who cannot be identified, by punching her in the head during an argument in her car, squeezing her hand and crushing her phone, which she was holding, and threatening to kill her mother.
The following month, a jury found him guilty of two counts, each of making a false document and using a false document.
He was found to have created false documents by forging the signatures of his lawyer, Zali Burrows, and his sister.
The crimes were related to events following his bankruptcy filing in March 2018. When police searched his home and found $6,350 in cash, Mehajer later filed an affidavit claiming the money belonged to his sister.
He was sentenced simultaneously for fraud and domestic violence offenses and will be eligible for parole in July next year after serving three and a half years.
His sentences were under a suppression order until he pleaded guilty to the staged car accident charges.
The court was told he had stated his intention to appeal both his domestic violence and fraud convictions.
He will also appear next week before the Court of Criminal Appeal, where he will apply for bail ahead of his appeal process.
