- The incident allegedly occurred outside Totti’s in Rozelle
- Kent has been removed from his television and newspaper duties.
- He appeared at Downing Center Local Court on Tuesday
NRL personality Paul Kent on Tuesday sought to have allegations he was involved in a street fight due to mental health issues dismissed, a court was told.
The Fox Sports presenter and columnist appeared at Downing Center Local Court on Tuesday for a bail review as he faces a single charge of affray.
Police allege Kent and another man became involved in a verbal argument that turned physical outside Totti’s Rozelle around 11pm on April 27.
A widely shared video from the night allegedly showed staff and customers trying to stop Mr Kent before the alleged melee spilled onto the street.
NRL 360 co-presenter and News Corp sports journalist Paul Kent appears in Downing Center Local Court on Tuesday.
Kent has been charged with a single count of affray and has asked for the matter to be dealt with under the NSW Mental Health Act.
A column written by Kent in August 2021 has circulated following Tuesday’s news.
The 54-year-old’s lawyer revealed to the court on Tuesday that he would seek to have the charge dealt with under the provisions of the NSW Mental Health Act.
“I will be seeking an application for this matter to be dealt with under the category of mental health and cognitive impairment,” he told magistrate Scott Nash.
‘In the hours following this alleged incident, he (Kent) sought urgent advice. He has been seeing his GP, who referred him to Burwood Hospital.
“He has an urgent appointment to see (a doctor) on May 22 and (is seeking) other treatment… related to alcohol.”
Under the law, a magistrate can make an order placing a person under the care of a responsible person if he or she is found to be mentally disabled.
Football fans responded to the latest development by sharing comments made by the outspoken pundit in 2021, in which he criticized a world where ‘morons claim their asshole behavior is a mental wellbeing issue and immediately turn them into no. “They are no longer responsible for their damned actions.”
“When Paul Roos celebrated the Sydney premiership in 2005, he revealed that one of the secrets behind the Swans’ success was their refreshing ‘no idiot policy’,” he said in his August 27, 2021 column.
‘Anyone who was bad for the place was not welcome.
‘Sadly that policy is now dead under the mental health law.
‘Now, all the idiots in the world simply claim that their idiotic behavior is a matter of mental well-being and immediately that makes them no longer responsible for their idiotic actions.
“And bleeding-hearted leftists, looking for a cause, stand behind them and point their guns at anyone who dares to question their idiotic behavior, partly in an attempt to attract publicity to their cause, and without examining whether the behavior actually Was it mental well-being or, yes, just idiotic behavior.
Paul Kent was charged with affray after an alleged altercation outside Totti’s in Rozelle.
Video of the alleged incident was shared widely online and led to Kent being removed from television and newspaper duties.
Nash agreed to a six-week adjournment for Kent to receive a treatment plan from his new doctor and dismissed his bail conditions.
When asked by the prosecutor if he would plead guilty to receive a reduced sentence, Kent demurred, telling reporters outside court that he had “nothing to say.”
The 54-year-old did not enter a plea and was fired by Fox Sports the day after the alleged incident “pending an immediate investigation.”
It comes just months after Kent was found not guilty of allegations he strangled and assaulted his then-partner, a result he called “vindication”.
A second 35-year-old man who police allege was involved in the fight with Kent was previously charged with affray before being granted bail at the main court on June 7.