NRL star turned champion boxer Anthony Mundine has been found guilty of flouting Covid restrictions after a three-year court battle during which it emerged he’d been taking ‘nonsensical’ legal advice from a mysterious lawyer known only as ‘Nige’.
The 49-year-old appeared before Bankstown Local Court on Tuesday for judgment after pleading not guilty to a charge of not complying with a Covid notice direction on July 21, 2021.
Police alleged the retired athlete, also known as ‘The Man’, failed to scan a QR code to check in to a Bunnings store in Kingsgrove, in Sydney‘s south, when NSW was in lockdown.
The outspoken former St George Illawarra Dragons player was also allegedly not wearing a mask while he was inside the store, but claimed he was exempt from the mask mandate.
In his judgment, magistrate Glenn Walsh said Mr Mundine did not have a reasonable excuse for not complying with the regulations, but had a ‘point of principle he wanted to argue’.
‘He simply had a point of view he thought was right, but that he now knows is wrong … He gave evidence he was very sorry for what he did,’ the magistrate told the court.
Anthony Mundine (pictured) has been found guilty of breaking Covid restrictions after a court battle that dragged on for three years
Even Mundine’s old boxing foe Danny Green (pictured fighting Mundine) took the former NRL’s side in the matter
‘He was very polite to everyone working there [Bunnings] that day and was very well known. When he spoke to police, he put forward a point of view that I did not uphold.’
Noting the dismissal of 33,000 Covid fines, of which Mr Mundine’s would likely have been included had he not come to court, Mr Walsh dismissed the case without conviction or punishment.
The court was told the champion boxer received incorrect advice from his lawyer, who did not give evidence and was referred to only as ‘Nige’, about the validity of Covid-era regulations.
Mr Mundine told staff at the Bunnings and later police that the regulations supposedly breached privacy and biosecurity laws, and lacked legitimacy as they had not passed the Upper House.
Despite claiming in court he was uninformed about the laws, Mr Walsh said Mr Mundine had not wanted to comply with the Covid regulations and sought out a ‘pseudo basis to say so’.
‘The defendant sought advice prior to going to Bunnings. He knew of the relevant restrictions, and did not want to be bound by them,’ Mr Walsh told the court.
‘He may sincerely have held his belief that he was not bound. The advice which he sought was nonsensical. His assertion to police of familiarity with the acts was patently untrue.’
He went on to add: ‘It was not as if he challenged the legality of the order in the Supreme Court. He simply decided that he could go to Bunnings and shop and not comply’.
The court heard Mundine had been taking ‘nonsensical’ legal advice on Covid restrictions from a mysterious lawyer known only as ‘Nige’
Staff at the Bunnings store gave evidence during the hearing that Mr Mundine had told them he was ‘not liable to scan the QR code or wear a mask’ when he was stopped by security.
Questioned by one of the staff upon exiting, Mr Mundine said ‘I didn’t mean to be rude to the other guy before. What you guys are doing is illegal. You can’t legally make me check in’.
They said Mr Mundine added: ‘It’s illegal what you’re doing, it is against the privacy and biosecurity act and I can sue you if I want to. If I had filmed you, I could sue you.’
Question by police later that day at his home, Mr Mundine – after seeking legal advice – informed officers that he had no comment and a right to silence, before making admissions.
He told officers he did not have to wear a mask because of a medical condition, adding that it was his ‘human right … protected under the privacy act, I know a bit of my s**t’.
Going on to quote supposed breaches of biosecurity laws, Mr Mundine told officers: ‘I don’t have to do it. The biosecurity act protects me … You guys have to get schooled on that.’
Later in evidence, Mr Mundine said he did not remember where he learned about the supposed breaches of the law posed by Covid regulations, citing his lawyer and his cousin ‘Simmy’.
Asked if he would do the same if he was presented with the same situation today, Mr Mundine admitted he would comply with the regulations despite his otherwise outspoken views.
‘I probably was just pumped up from all the info I got or believed in at the time … I’m proud person, I felt violated. Violated. My rights were violated … I just felt wronged, hard done by.
‘Everything was pretty crazy … as a human being I felt not just me but everyone was getting violated … I like to lead. I just thought I was doing the right thing, but I obviously wasn’t.’
Outside court, Mr Mundine said he was ‘glad it was finally over. It’s a burden off the back’.
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