Former suburban Sydney deputy mayor Salim Mehajer has been accused in court of choking his then girlfriend until she fell unconscious.
Mehajer was charged in 2021 with three counts of common assault, intimidation intending to cause fear and physical harm, intentional choking and assault occasioning actual bodily harm with an alternate charge of common assault.
The 36-year-old businessman, who represented himself in the New South Wales district court on Wednesday, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The former deputy mayor of Auburn, in Sydney’s west, allegedly choked his then girlfriend until she became unconscious, insensible or incapable of resistance at a Lidcombe property, the court heard.
Judge James Bennett said the allegation seemed to arise from “a dysfunctional, disrupted or broken-down relationship”.
Bennett told the jury the most important thing to note in the case was the perceived truthfulness of the accused.
He also warned the jury about the defendant’s high profile.
“Mr Mehajer has been the subject of publicity in various media formats,” Bennett told the court on Wednesday.
“He’s not on trial for any newspaper article that has been written in the past. That is completely irrelevant to what we will do in this courtroom.”
The trial will continue on Monday.
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