Neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell, who allegedly led an attack on a sacred Indigenous burial site in Melbourne, has been refused bail.
Sewell, 32, appeared in the Melbourne magistrates court on Friday morning, with a magistrate saying she was satisfied he would endanger the safety of others if released into the community.
Police charged Sewell on Tuesday with multiple offences, including violent disorder and affray over the alleged incident at Camp Sovereignty on the weekend. Sewell, the leader of the Nationalist Socialist Network, allegedly instructed a group of about 30 members of the far-right group to charge at the encampment.
Magistrate Donna Bakos said she found Sewell’s alleged offences to be “serious”.
“To lead and participate in, if not incite an unprovoked attack on a sacred site … can only be viewed as serious conduct,” she said.
Bakos said Sewell was not charged over his political view and ideology “whether racially motivated or otherwise.”
“It relates to charges of violent and unlawful conduct,” she said.
Sakos said there were no bail conditions that could appropriately reduce the risk that Sewell posed to the community.
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She said the prosecution’s case about the alleged Camp Sovereignty attack was “strong”, noting there was video footage.
As Sewell was led out of the courtroom, he said “we fight for white Australia”.
A group of Sewell’s supporters in the courtroom said “hail white Australia”.
Police had argued against granting Sewell bail, saying he would continue to commit violent offences that could result in serious injury and death.
Det Sr Const Saer Pascoe told the court on Wednesday releasing Sewell posed a particular risk for vulnerable groups and ethnic minorities, while community-minded people who intervene could also be at risk from counterattacks.
Pascoe said the alleged attack occurred after members of the NSN attended an anti-immigration protest in Melbourne on Sunday as similar demonstrations took place across the nation.
Sewell allegedly punched and kicked a Camp Sovereignty occupant, the court heard.
Pascoe said Sewell, as NSN leader, had at his disposal a large group of followers who would follow his instructions to attack “without hesitation”.
Jonathan McCarthy, for the prosecution, said Sewell was a member of a “racially motivated organisation that uses ideology to commit offences”.
Sewell’s defence lawyer, Matthew Hopkins, said the prosecution’s case that granting his client bail posed an unacceptable risk “didn’t come anywhere close to the threshold” and was “loaded with subjective, almost political commentary”.
Hopkins argued prosecutors had not put any evidence to the court about racially motivated ideology and what constituted it.
He said the court should not be “accepting that someone’s controversial political ideologies would give weight to an unacceptable risk of harm”.
The alleged offences took place while Sewell was on bail over charges of intimidating a police officer and breaching multiple personal intervention orders.
Police arrested Sewell outside the Melbourne magistrates court on Tuesday afternoon, hours after he confronted the premier, Jacinta Allan, as she was holding a press conference in West Melbourne with the treasurer, Jaclyn Symes, and upper house MP Sheena Watt.
He was separated from the premier by her security detail and the trio quickly left the park, with the press conference abandoned.
Two other people – a 23-year-old from Mooroolbark and a 20-year-old from Ardeer – were also arrested on Tuesday over the Camp Sovereignty incident. Both were bailed to appeal at the Melbourne magistrates court on 10 December.
