Media mogul Antony Catalano was abusing substances and wearing only his underwear when he allegedly threatened to kill his partner and dragged her through their luxury St Kilda apartment.
Fresh details of the allegations against Catalano can now be revealed after a recording of the March 13 hearing in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court was released detailing the alleged hour-long attack that ended only when his partner escaped the couple’s home and fled onto the street for help.
During the late night bail hearing, Senior Constable Kiran Paramaguru opposed bail, telling the court CCTV allegedly showed the 59-year-old brandish an iron above the complainant, after approaching her while she lay in bed.
Paramaguru said about 12.30am, after returning home from a dinner, Catalano allegedly approached the complainant in a “severely drug affected state” and began ranting about matters not pertaining to her, and demanded her phone.
He then allegedly grabbed her by the hair and ankles, and dragged her around the apartment before reaching the laundry, where she was captured on CCTV. It was here, police said, Catalano “grabbed a clothes iron and held it to the victims head”.
As the alleged attack continued, police said the complaint grabbed Catalano’s underwear in the hope of leaving evidence for police if she were killed.
“The accused is fairly irate and seen reaching across victim, grabbing an iron, and swings it at her with quite significant force. She feared it would be used against her to kill her,” the officer said.
Once the woman reached the outside elevator, she was allegedly dragged back inside, and a neighbour called police. The woman managed to break free and run out onto the street, in extreme distress, before flagging down a car and asking to be driven away, the court heard.
“It shows the victim run away from the accused, exit the apartment and run toward the elevator,” Paramaguru said.
“He reaches her, grabs her, pushing her by the neck and dragging her back into the apartment.”
The complainant later attended hospital with a fractured coccyx.
The court heard the incident was captured in full on CCTV from inside parts of the apartment, as well as the hallway and foyer of the property.
Paramaguru said Catalano was arrested at midday that day in the Hampton area.
In opposing bail, he said police believed Catalano was a flight risk as he had access to significant social and financial resources at his disposal.
“He’s got significant financial resources at his disposal which allows him the ability to flee the state and or the country and police believe any potential reputation damage … might cause him to take this option,” Paramaguru said.
Police said he had allegedly been abusing alcohol and cocaine for some time, recently spent time in a psychiatric facility, had a propensity for violence and a history of drug-induced psychosis.
This included Catalano himself calling police days earlier while at his Byron Bay property, believing he was seeing people coming out of the “woodwork” at his home, Paramaguru said.
The 59-year-old appeared at the March hearing remotely from the Prahran police station, and is facing charges of assault, false imprisonment and making threats to kill.
Defence barrister Jason Gullaci, SC, rejected the suggestion his client was a flight risk, labelling this fanciful. He noted Catalano had significant ties to Australia, including his nine children, and a number of multimillion-dollar properties.
Gullaci also suggested the complainant came home two hours after Catalano, who may have already been in bed wearing only “jocks”, with a verbal argument occurring first.
The defence lawyer also said the remand summary was absent of any reference to the iron being swung at the complainant, and that this was first aired in court during the bail application.
The court heard Catalano had no prior convictions or failure to comply with court orders.
Gullaci said his client had significant business interests in Australia, starting his career out as a police reporter with The Age newspaper before helping start Domain, becoming involved in the acquisition of companies worth “millions” and, in 2019, purchasing ACM media for $115 million.
“There are triable issues. What happened, how it started, and there’s a question mark over whether that even if he’s found guilty, whether any time of remand would outweigh any sentence,” Gullaci said.
“There’s a bit more to it … one would think.”
Magistrate Rohan Lawrence agreed bail was warranted and released Catalano with strict conditions including he remains in Victoria, rejecting suggestions that the accused was a flight risk.
