Source : Perth Now news
A neo-Nazi leader accused of leading an attack on an Aboriginal protest site has flagged a possible plea but still claims he was provoked.
Thomas Sewell, 32, and 13 other men faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday after being charged over the Camp Sovereignty incident.
It’s alleged Sewell led the group that stormed the site after an anti-immigration protest in the Melbourne city centre in August.
The men, dressed in black, allegedly held down occupants of the Indigenous camp before kicking and punching them.
Three people were injured, with one woman requiring staples in her scalp to close a wound, the court was previously told.
Sewell and co-accused Nathan Bull, Timothy Holger Lutze, Augustus Coolie Hartigan, Ryan Williams and Blake Cathcart on Tuesday each requested an adjournment to March.
Sewell’s lawyer Mathew Hopkins told the court he was in “resolution discussions” with the prosecution and they needed some time.
Mr Hopkins said the facts of the case were still in dispute but the prosecutor confirmed the charges were “not necessarily in issue”.
Outside court, Sewell told reporters the allegation the attack was unprovoked was disputed.
“If we can agree to the facts, then I’m happy to do what’s needed to be done,” he said.
“This idea that I just walk around the street punching people for no reason … that’s just a lie.”
Three of the accused – Zack Steven Dewaard, Billy Conheady and Haymish Busscher – formally pleaded not guilty to charges including violent disorder and affray.
They will each face trial in the Victorian County Court, with an initial directions hearing listed for March.
The other accused – Jake Crockett, Michael Nelson, Yan Zakharin and Michael Saarinen – will fight the allegations at a magistrates court committal hearing in May.
Jaeden Johnson was the only one to admit offending, pleading guilty to charges of violent disorder, assault by kicking and committing an indictable offence while on bail.
He will face a plea hearing in the County Court in August.
Outside court, a member of the public confronted Sewell over his views and called him a racist.
