Charge against alleged Bondi basher dropped
A MAN accused of involvement in a violent attack on a Jewish family in Bondi last year has walked free from a Sydney court.
A MAN accused of involvement in a violent attack on a Jewish family in Bondi last year has walked free from a Sydney court.
Spartaco Marciano Di Bella, 24, was charged with affray over the incident, which left three members of the Behar family and two friends with serious injuries.
In Sydney’s Central Local Court last Thursday, Magistrate Lisa Stapleton dismissed the case, after the Director of Public Prosecutions NSW dropped the charge against Di Bella.
In a statement to The AJN, the DPP found there was “insufficient evidence to ensure a reasonable prospect of a conviction”.
Meanwhile, Di Bella’s co-accused, Robert Tamaki Clifford, who has been behind bars since November, is facing charges of affray, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and possessing a knife in a public place.
Clifford appeared in court on Thursday for a summary hearing.
Wearing prison greens, the 26-year-old – who has pleaded not guilty to the charges – showed no emotion in the dock as prosecutor Clayton Bridge recounted the events of early October 26.
The court heard one of the victims, Shlomo Behar, 27, was punched by the attackers while trying to defend his parents, Eli, 66, and Lea, 62.
The trio were walking home after a Shabbat dinner with Zeev Aronstam, 39, and JNF NSW shaliach Shlomo Ben-Haim, 48, when up to 10 men, sitting on the corner of Glenayr Avenue and Blair Street, allegedly yelled racial abuse at them.
“As the Jewish group walked past, some of the males seated on the benches started to yell things such as ‘f***ing Jews, want to start … dirty Jew c***s’,” Bridge told the hearing.
The court heard the victims continued to walk, “trying to ignore the abuse”, when the older members of the group, Eli and Lea, were approached by two men.
“Concerned for his parents, [son Shlomo] stepped between the males who approached them and his parents. At that point, the males punched Shlomo Behar and he was quickly outnumbered,” Bridge said.
The court heard Eli was thrown to the ground, his wife Lea assaulted, while son Shlomo was struck in the head with a glass bottle, causing his head to bleed.
The other members of the group were also punched and kicked repeatedly.
The court heard Clifford’s DNA and an “identical” fingerprint were found on a knife located near the crime scene, but he denies any involvement in the fight.
CCTV footage from outside a cafe, which allegedly shows the accused fighting with Shlomo and picking up the weapon, will be played to the court when the hearing resumes on July 1.
Two youths are currently before the children’s court over the matter.
EVAN ZLATKIS
Members of the Behar family attacked last October, from left, Zeev Aronstam, Shlomo Behar, Lea Behar, Eli Behar and Issar Ben Behar.
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