Neo-nazi Thomas Sewell – who allegedly led an attack on a First Nations encampment in Melbourne over the weekend – will continue to commit violent offences that could lead to death, a court heard.
Sewell, 32, applied to be freed on bail on Wednesday after being charged over an alleged attack on Melbourne’s Camp Sovereignty on Sunday.
Police charged Sewell on Tuesday with multiple offences, including violent disorder and affray over the alleged incident at the sacred Aboriginal burial ground and longstanding protest site.
Sewell appeared in the Melbourne magistrates’ court on Wednesday morning.
Detective senior constable Saer Pascoe told the court Sewell, who is unemployed and the full-time leader of the National Socialist Network, would continue to offend.
He said there was a particular risk for vulnerable groups and ethnic minorities, while community-minded people who intervene could also be at risk from counter-attacks.
“There is a real and likely risk of serious injury and death,” he said.
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Prosecutor Jonathan McCarthy said releasing Sewell on bail posed an unacceptable risk to community safety as he had a “propensity to offend in a violent way”.
McCarthy said Sewell was a member of a “racially motivated organisation that uses ideology to commit offences”.
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.
Pascoe alleged Sewell led a group of about 30 NSN members towards the lawful encampment of First Nations people before “instructing them to charge”.
The group charged towards the encampment before kicking signage, and kicking two Camp Sovereignty occupants, the court heard. In one alleged incident, two NSN members held down a Camp Sovereignty occupant while another two members hit the victim.
Sewell allegedly punched and kicked a Camp Sovereignty occupant, Pascoe said.
Pascoe said Sewell was the leader of the NSN and had “complete control”.
“The applicant has at his disposal a large group of followers who will attack, on his instruction, without hesitation,” he said.
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”.
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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”.
Hopkins said Sewell had also attended court hearings while on bail and would comply with any conditions imposed by the court.
The alleged offences took place while Sewell was on bail over charges of intimidating a police officer, 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.
Magistrate Donna Bakos will hand down her bail decision for Sewell on Friday morning.
